


Found Upon A Field Of Glass

by HalcyonPOA



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Edeleth, Eventual Romance, F/F, Female My Unit | Byleth, Slow Burn, Spartan!Claude, Spartan!Dimitri, Spartan!Edelgard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:33:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24062161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HalcyonPOA/pseuds/HalcyonPOA
Summary: When Edelgard Hresvelg was just six years old, she was stolen from her home by an organisation that worked only in the shadows. To be transformed into a super soldier, a Spartan. Made to crush the rebellions in the outer colonies. To be the greatest warriors that humanity had ever seen. But Humanity was targeted for destruction. Genocide. By a theocratic alien alliance called The Covenant. Can Edelgard and the other Spartans become the shield against which The Covenant breaks? Can love blossom when everything has turned to glass?An Edelgard-centric story (with Edeleth) through the lens of the Halo universe.Prior knowledge of the Halo universe is not required to read this fic. The focus will still be on the cast of Three Houses, just adapted for the Halo universe. And I will try, to the best of my ability, to explain Halo lore where it is necessary.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	1. Spaceflight and the lady of Hresvelg

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to 'Found Upon A Field Of Glass', my first ever fanfic. This got started because of a dumb idea I had while playing Three Houses. What if Edelgard was a Spartan II from Halo? The backstory of being kidnapped and experimented on to become a weapon fits Edelgard's story very well, in my opinion. So I just thought, 'Why not?'.
> 
> Let me know in the comments if I explain anything poorly, as I wish to make this fic as accessible as possible to people who may know nothing, or very little, of the Halo universe.

“You have been called upon to serve, you will be trained… and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies. This will be hard to understand, but you cannot return to your parents. This place will become your home. Your fellow trainees will be your family.” – Dr. Catherine Halsey, 2517 CE

* * *

No matter how many times you lay your eyes upon it, the sight of slipstream space would never fail to make you feel small, lonesome… inconsequential. To be able to look out at the space outside your ship and see no stars, asteroid fields or planets; Nothing but the endless void. It can make one feel moments of existential dread, feeling that what they achieve in life will count for nought in the end.

_My work will save humanity, it must. What these children will become shall be our destiny as a species._ Thought Catherine Halsey as she gazed out of the viewport of her prowler at the darkness around her. She was currently travelling on this vessel towards a colony world for one purpose, one person. A child that would be one of a selected few to move humanity’s evolution forward, and to become one of its greatest warriors and protectors, a Spartan.

“How long until we drop out of slipspace Doctor?” announced a voice, pulling Halsey out of her reverie. She turned toward its source. Lieutenant Jacob Keyes, a tall man in his mid-twenties, with dark hair in a military cut. Her “chaperone” for these missions. _Babysitter is a more apt descriptor. When will Rhea learn to trust me and let me work in peace?_ She thought in exasperation. The director of the Office of Naval Intelligence had always made it a point to stick her nose in on every project that came her way, even after approving them. _I suppose I am partially at fault for constantly reiterating how important these children will become for the future of humanity._

“About Five minutes Lieutenant. Please take a seat.” She gestured towards the seat next to her in the cockpit of the prowler. “Nice of you to join us, thought you would have wanted to keep chasing sheep in cryo.” She said with a slight smirk as the Lieutenant sat next to her.

“You know the dreams in cryo are rarely good doctor.” He said light-heartedly as he began looking over the flight instruments of the prowler as the ship began preparations to exit slipspace.

“Hmmm, quite.”

“You know, I still can’t quite believe you listen to this ancient stuff.” He joked, referring to the music that was currently playing over the onboard speaker system, Brahms’ Tragic Overture.

“It is not ancient Lieutenant, simply one of the classics from humanity’s past.”

“It’s nearly 700 years old Doctor.”

“And yet, it is better than most pieces of music made over the last few hundred years. Sometimes Lieutenant, we have to look to our past… To the old ways for inspiration. Both in who we are and our endeavours.”

“Huh, I understand Doctor, that’s why this project is named for the Spartans of ancient Greece isn’t it? Because their methods created the best soldiers?”

“That’s right Lieutenant, if only partially.” He looked at her in confusion, his expression rather amusing to her. “Spartans weren’t just masters at the craft of warfare, they were also intelligent and resourceful, warrior poets in their own right; but most importantly, they were loyal. Never straying from cause or country, even willing to lay down their lives so that Sparta could keep its identity and traditions in the face of an insurmountable invasion. Their defiance in the face of impossible odds allowed Sparta to keep its flame alight, even when times were at their darkest. The Spartans carried that flame and made sure it was never snuffed out.”

“And these kids… they’ll keep humanity’s flame alight? Like the first Spartans?”

“I suppose it is all rather… Promethean when it is put like that. But yes, these children will be humanities greatest hope in the future to come, even if others do not yet see it that way.”

“Most would say the methods that the Spartans used were cruel, inhumane even.”

“And those people Lieutenant, are the ones who can never appreciate those who make the hard choices. When _my_ Spartans save them, maybe then they’ll understand but, most likely not. Our work will be thankless, unappreciated… but it must be done, for the greater good.”

“I know your work is important Doctor, it’s just… It still feels wrong. To be taking these children from their homes. Forcing them to be something they probably don’t want to be.” He said, his eyes downcast and his face painted with regret.

“I understand your hesitation Lieutenant, and it is good that you still have qualms over what we are doing, it means you haven’t lost your humanity working alongside us at ONI, leave that part to me.” She said stoically. “And it would do you best to not dwell on these things, being taken from the sanctuary of their homes will not be the worst thing these children will have to endure.”

“What’s that supposed to mean Doctor?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, I suppose I’m just rambling.”

“ _The_ Doctor Halsey? Rambling? Never thought I’d see the day that laser focus of yours would falter.” He said with a cheeky smile.

She sent a scathing look his way from across the cockpit. “You know I can always send a request for another chaperone from Director Rhea Lieutenant? Preferably one with less jokes.”

He gulped under her scrutinizing gaze; she was rather scary when she wanted to be. “Sorry Doctor.”

“Apology accepted.” She said, moving her gaze back to the screens in front of while wearing a self-satisfied smirk.

After a moment, Keyes piped back up. “So, Doctor, nobody’s told me why the director was so adamant that we retrieve this candidate immediately. I thought she approved your schedule? I mean we already retrieved a few of them according to it. Why did she want us to get 020 as soon as possible?”

“I’m surprised the gossip hasn’t come your way yet Lieutenant.”

“I’m not really one for prattling like an old lady, Doctor.”

“Rhea was adamant that we shift our schedule for 020 because _someone_ called in a favour. Someone with a lot of pull in the upper echelon of the UEG.”

“Who?”

“The Minister of information, Volkhard Arundel.”

“That bastard? The hell does a snake like Arundel want with a project like this?” It was well known by those that kept up to date with the inner workings of the United Earth Government that Volkhard Arundel was a deeply unpopular minister with the populace at large, constantly voting to defund schooling programs and healthcare provisions for the poorest within society. Not to mention his droves of trillionaire friends who were ensured tax cuts in any spending bill put forward by the minister. Most within the populace also blamed him for the rising tensions between the outer colonies and the UEG as those who lived on the colonies felt that they were neglected and heavily taxed by the minister’s policies.

“In a strange twist of fate, it seems that candidate 020 is Minister Arundel’s niece.”

“Wait, he knows that his niece is going to be taken? And he wants it to happen?” Said Keyes in shock. “He wanted us to get her sooner than you had scheduled for? Why?”

“I don’t know why he wanted her retrieval to be so immediate, all I know is that he allows ONI to operate with no interference from the UNSC and in exchange… he gets whatever information he wants from the director. This project included. And that once he saw his niece’s name on the file, he was intrigued, excited even. I think he wants to see what will become of her as she goes through the program. Suffice to say, it unnerves even me Lieutenant.”

“Yeah, that’s one word for it.” He said with barely concealed contempt written across his features. “Can’t wait for that asshole to get kicked out of office, it baffles me how it hasn’t happened yet.”

“Such is the power of favours and friends in high places.” She replied with a frown, she looked back at her monitor and saw that the prowler was set to come out of slipspace within the next half a minute. “30 seconds Lieutenant, get your gear ready for landing.”

“Roger that ma’am.” He replied, standing up to move towards their shared gear locker for the mission, their ‘gear’ was simple civilian clothing, so that they could blend in, looking like simple tourists or one of the people living on the world and not like ONI agents. “Say Doctor, I never got the chance to look over 020’s file or the flight coordinates before we went under for cryo. What colony are going to?”

“Our destination is Adrestia Lieutenant, one of the more… affluent resort colonies.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. My old man tried to book a holiday here for the whole family after getting a work bonus when I was a kid, but the waiting list was six months at least and his entire salary for the year couldn’t cover the cost for all of us. We ended up going to Arcadia instead.” He said, chuckling lightly at the memory of his father’s jaw practically on the floor when the travel agent had laid out the cost for just a week at one of Adrestia’s resorts. The ship lurched slightly as it exited slipspace.

He turned back to the doctor, as the green and blue continental world came into view through the prowler’s cockpit. “And the Candidate? What’s her name?”

*****

“Edelgard! Stop trying to take the fun out of it!” Cried a youthful voice, a boy.

“I’m not taking the fun out of anything Ferdinand. I’m _trying_ to do it right!” replied another youthful voice, a girl this time.

The boy, Ferdinand, argued back. “But you’re using a map, its not fun if you know where to go. My noble honour requires me to—”

“You are not a noble Ferdinand! We aren’t in Victorian England. And the map doesn’t tell us where the treasure is, only where the clues are, we still have to figure them out; your ‘noble’s honour’ should be okay with yes?” The girl, Edelgard snapped back.

The two infants were currently engaged in a treasure hunt as part of their school’s field trip, the two had gone ahead of their group as Edelgard had figured out the first clue on the map that had been provided to their group; and Ferdinand, her best friend, had followed her immediately, but was now insisting on ditching the map.

“We are _not_ getting rid of the map Ferdinand, we’ll never figure out the clues without it.” Said Edelgard. The young girl had light brown hair done up in twin tails held by purple ribbons. Her bright lilac eyes looked at Ferdinand in exasperation.

Ferdinand was a little taller than her, he had well kept orange hair, the colour of the sun. his eyes mirrored his hair in colour and shine. His face was pulled together in frustration. “We don’t need the map! I, Ferdinand Von Aegir shall find these clues myself, using my superior wit and instincts! Once and for all I shall prove my superiority over you Edelgard!” He announced holding his fist in the air, looking victorious, despite having no victories to celebrate.

“Um, Ferdinand, you’re standing in… dog poop.” She said disgustedly, pointing at Ferdinand’s foot. His eyes snapped to where she was pointing and snapped wide open in shock, he started jumping around rubbing his shoe into the grass to get the mess off.

“Ew ew ew, Edelgard, get if off!”

“How am I supposed to get it off Ferdinand? Get if off yourself!”

“I don’t know, use your coat sleeve or something!”

“Eww no Ferdinand, that’s so gross! I got this coat for my Birthday!”

A voice cut through their shouting. “Here they are guys!” Edelgard turned to look at the newcomers, folding the map and putting it in her coat pocket. It was the rest of their group for the treasure hunt. Kids she was in the same class as but wouldn’t really consider her friends, with them always thinking she was too prissy and uptight. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you guys; you know we’re supposed to be a group right?” asked the boy at the front of the group.

“Well, while you guys were talking about the video games you got over the summer break, _I_ was taking the initiative and actually figuring out the clues on the map that Miss Roberts gave us. And Ferdinand deigned to follow me.” Explained Edelgard as Ferdinand continued to freak out about the dog mess on his shoe, this time using the base of a tree to get it off.

“Heh, why’s Ferdie bird freaking out?” The boy chortled at his lazy attempt at an insulting nickname.

She spared a glance at Ferdinand over her shoulder, still attempting the clean-up. “Oh, he stepped in dog poop.” She giggled into her hand.

Ferdinand gaped at her, his face reflecting the betrayal he felt. “Edelgard! You didn’t have to tell them!” The other children joined in on Edelgard’s giggling.

“Sorry Ferdinand, but it is pretty funny. And _gross_.” She didn’t stop her face from showing that she wasn’t sorry in the slightest. Ferdinand pouted at her, looking like a puppy that didn’t get a treat.

“How am I supposed to get this off guys? My dad will be so cross with me if I go home with _this_ on my shoes.” He gestured towards the obvious brown stain on his footwear.

“Why don’t you go find Miss Roberts? She probably has wipes or something with her.” Edelgard suggested.

“No, that would be like giving up on the treasure hunt Edelgard! I can’t go back to our teacher with nothing!”

She stepped in front of Ferdinand and looked up into his face. “Ferdinand, look at me.” His eyes locked onto hers. She turned her lips into a pout and made her lilac eyes big and wide, Ferdinand’s puppy face may have been good but she was a master at it, having used it many times to great effect on her parents and elder siblings. “Please go and find Miss Roberts and get your shoes cleaned. For me? Your bestest friend in the whole world?” He looked like he was going to argue back but she interrupted him. “It will be so hard for us to finish this treasure hunt without you, but it won’t be fair for you if you’re distracted by the mess on your shoe.” She finished by spreading her eyes even wider and deepening her pout, a truly apocalyptic part of her arsenal.

Not even Ferdinand was immune to her greatest weapon and quickly acquiesced. His pout turned into a wide smile. “Okay Edelgard. for you!” He quickly ran around her and started running towards where their teachers were sitting, watching over the other students from afar, but mostly they were looking at their phones.

She turned back to the group of her classmates behind her and began to explain how far along they were with the treasure hunt. “Okay, Ferdinand and I were on the second to last clue together, the next clue is somewhere around here, by these benches. I think it might be in a bird’s nest from what the clue said.”

“Oh, could that be it Edelgard?” Said the only other girl in her group of five. She was pointing at the ground next to the tree that Ferdinand had been rubbing his shoe against. Right there in plain sight was a plastic mock-up of a bird’s nest, it had a piece of paper stuck in its centre.

“Yes! That must be it! Good find Abigail.” Edelgard ran over to the plastic nest and took the piece of paper and began to read it aloud.

“When this thing is very young

  
It’s known as a sapling

  
Every year as it grows

  
It gains an extra ring”

For what was supposed to reveal the ever-mystical location of the treasure that she and her group were hunting for, this was absolutely disappointing. _This was supposed to_ _show us where the treasure is? This barely even passes as a clue. How vague can you possibly be? A tree? We’re in the middle of the park for Goddesses’ sake. There were hundreds of trees!_ Edelgard thought to herself as she thought of ways to get her teachers fired over this absolute joke of a clue.

“What does it say Edelgard? Where’s the treasure at?” Asked the girl that had found the nest. Edelgard turned back to her group with a frown.

“Under a tree.” She said, deadpan.

“A tree? There’s probably millions of trees in this park! How are we supposed to find the treasure under just one?” complained the other boy that hadn’t spoken up until now.

“Don’t exaggerate. The park isn’t that big, but its still going to be a challenge.” Edelgard quickly began formulating a plan on how her group were going to cover enough ground in the park to find the treasure. “Okay, I have an idea.” The others stopped complaining to each other about how unfair this treasure hunt was and looked to her like she was going to have all the answers in the world. “The park is divided into sections for all the different kinds of trees they have, like a mini forest for each kind, we’re in the oak tree part of the park; Our teachers probably wouldn’t put the treasure in same section as the clue. _That_ would make it too easy, so its probably in one of the other sections.” She pointed her finger at the boy who had complained about the location of the treasure. “You and Abigail will go to the Pine tree part of the park to search. If you can’t find it, there’s a map on one of the walking paths.” She then snapped her finger to the other boy in her group. “You will go to the cedar part of the park to search.” She then turned her finger back onto herself. “I will go to the birch area. Hopefully with all of us searching, we’ll be able to find the treasure with little to no effort.”

The boy that she had assigned to search the cedar area opened his mouth to object. _Probably to call me too bossy_ thought Edelgard. She cut him off before he could go any further. “Follow my orders and we will be victorious!” She yelled with her arms crossed in front of her chest, the very image of a General leading her troops to battle, or at least as much like a six-year-old could look like a battle hardened soldier. The boy quickly shut his mouth and stood up straight, shaking his head up and down vigorously.

“Y-yes Edelgard. R-right away!” He turned on his heel and began running to the path where the map for the park was. The other two followed him to find the location of given search area. Edelgard began walking towards where she knew the birch trees would be in the park, having remembered the location from the map now in her pocket.

Once she had made her way into the area of the park where the birch trees grew, she began to scour under each and every tree in her path, on the hunt for the great prize that her teachers had planted in the forest for the students to find.

After searching under nearly a hundred trees, she was beginning to give up hope that it would be in this part of the park. Then she saw it. The slight golden glint in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and widened her eyes in surprise. There it was! The treasure! It was a cube wrapped only in golden tin foil nestled in the trunk of a tree, but to Edelgard it might as well have been made of solid gold and worth more than anything in the world. She quickly sprinted over to the tree and reached into its cavity and pulled out her prize.

_What is it going to be?_ She thought to herself as she began to tear away the foil wrapped around her trophy. _Sweets? Chocolate? A coupon for free ice cream?_ Edelgard had quite the sweet tooth.

She tore away the gold coloured wrapping and pumped her fist into the air in joy at what was underneath… A coupon for free ice cream! Five of them!

“Well done little one. I’m sure that was a nuisance to find.” A woman’s voice made Edelgard turn around in shock, almost making her drop the box in her hand. The woman in front of her was in her mid-twenties, dressed in a simple fleece sweater and black jeans with a small, brown leather handbag slung over her shoulder. Her face showing an expression of calm. Her short, dark hair was cut into a bob that framed her face, her stark blue eyes bore into Edelgard as Edelgard simply stared, dumbfounded at the unexpected arrival. The woman’s lips grew into a wide, welcoming smile as she crouched down onto one knee in front of the child, but Edelgard could see that her eyes never matched that warm smile, as they locked onto her own lilac pair. This woman was constantly taking in and analysing everything around her, analysing _her_. The woman’s gaze made Edelgard feel smaller than she already was when compared to the woman in front of her.

“Its ok little one, I won’t bite.” The woman held her hand up close to her chest as both a light-hearted wave and a sign of not being a threat to the child in front of her. “My you’re a cute one, aren’t you? What have you got there might I ask?” She gestured to the box clutched in Edelgard’s hands.

“Um, its n-nothing, just some c-coupons. F-for ice cream.” Edelgard stuttered, still being slightly too shocked at the unexpected arrival of the mysterious woman to get her words out clearly.

“Ice cream huh? Do you like Ice cream little one?” asked the woman, her tone filled with curiosity.

“Uhhh, y-yeah, its my second f-favourite food, after saghert and cream.”

The woman looked surprised at that. “My my, saghert and cream? That’s my favourite too.”

Upon hearing this, Edelgard calmed slightly. _There’s no way a bad woman would like saghert and cream right? Maybe this lady isn’t so bad._ She thought to herself. “Really? That’s cool! None of my friends seem to like it.” She said with a frown.

The woman widened her smile. “Well you know what they say, great minds think alike.” She then reached into her handbag and pulled out a red lollipop. “Say little one, would you mind answering some questions for me? I’ll make it worth your while.” She shook the lollipop to illustrate what the reward would be.

Edelgard became a little bit suspicious at this. _Why would she give up candy so easily?_ But her sweet tooth quickly squashed these concerns over the opportunity at even more sweets for its hunger to be fulfilled. “Um, okay I guess. What would you like to know?”

The mystery woman seemed pleased at the change in her behaviour. “Well, first things first, introductions are in order I believe. My name is Catherine Keyes. What’s yours?”

“Edelgard Hresvelg.” Edelgard answered proudly, seemingly a fan of using her full name.

“That is a lovely name Edelgard. How old are you?”

“Six years old.”

“And already so mature. You go to the Wilhelm academy of Adrestia yes?” the woman, Catherine continued. “Might I ask how you are enjoying it there? My husband and I are moving here next year, and we are searching for a good school for our daughter to go to, you and her are the same age actually.”

Edelgard became excited at this bit of information. _A new friend? Hopefully she’ll be nice. I hope she comes to the academy._ “Yeah, its pretty great, I’m learning a lot there. I hope your daughter joins us, what’s her name?”

“Miranda.”

“That’s a pretty name! I have a sister called Miranda!” Edelgard joyously replied

“Why yes, I should think so!” Catherine chuckled lightly, her eyes shifting to the ground at her feet. “I picked it myself you know.” She said jokingly. She turned her full focus back onto Edelgard as the girl stopped her own giggling. “I saw you giving orders to those children back there in the oak trees, quite an aptitude for leadership if I say so myself. Do they teach leadership courses to ones so young at your school?”

Edelgard blushed at the praise, suddenly finding a spot on the ground seemingly very interesting. “Oh that? I just really wanted to win the treasure hunt, that’s all.” She turned her gaze back to Catherine. “A lot of the other kids don’t seem to like it. They say I’m bossy. The teachers too. My friend Ferdinand doesn’t seem to mind though, but he also has this sort of rivalry with me, he’s kind of weird sometimes.” She laughed at the thought of her best friend and his obsession with their strange one-sided rivalry.

“Tell me Edelgard, do you live close to the academy?” Catherine continued her questioning of the young girl.

“Yeah, I live in Enbarr! Its like five minutes away from the academy. Oh, it’s so cool! There’s a bakery right next to the school, my sisters and I get cakes from there every day! Miranda can come with us if she wants!” Edelgard said ecstatic, her earlier suspicion now completely gone.

“I’m sure she will.” Catherine smiled in return to her enthusiasm. “How many siblings do you have Edelgard?”

“Ten! Four sisters, six brothers. I’m the ninth child.” Edelgard was happy to tell others about her large family.

“Crowded house then?” asked Catherine in amusement.

“Yeah, it’s a tradition for us Hresvelgs to have a big family!” She then continued. “My dad owns the Crimson Flower resort, so our house is pretty huge.”

“Your father is Ionius Hresvelg then? I’ve heard good things about him.” Catherine stated.

A man suddenly stepped into Edelgard’s field of vision from behind Catherine around 15 feet back. He was a tall man in early to mid-twenties, wearing a grey pea coat with black slacks, he had short dark hair and sharp blue eyes. He spoke up, grabbing Catherine’s attention. “Catherine we better get going, our sky bus leaves in 10.” He pointed to the watch on his wrist to illustrate his point.

Catherine nodded back at him and turned back to look at Edelgard once again. “That’s my husband Jacob, it seems we’ll have to be leaving now.” She extended her arm out towards Edelgard, offering the lollipop that she had promised her earlier. “I believe I promised you this didn’t I?”

Edelgard was rather disappointed that this nice lady was leaving so soon. “Aw, you don’t have to go _now_ do you? I can tell you more about the academy if you like!”

Catherine shook her head in amusement. “I’m afraid not Edelgard, now please. You’ve earned this for being so kind.” Referring to the treat in her hand.

Edelgard relented and took the offered sweet gently from the proffered hand, smiling at Catherine. “Okay, thank you so much!” she glanced over her shoulder to back where she came from. “I think I’ll have to go back to my group anyway and share these coupons!” she said happily.

“Congratulations on winning Edelgard.” Catherine stood back up from her crouch. “and thank you again for answering my questions, I’m sure Miranda will love it at your school.” She turned and began walking back towards her husband.

“Your welcome Miss Keyes! Goodbye!” Edelgard waved goodbye at her retreating form and Catherine turned her torso back towards her and waved over her shoulder in goodbye whilst smiling. _What a nice lady._ She thought to herself as she too turned around and started to skip back to where her teachers were sat.

As she approached the area where her teachers were waiting, she spotted Ferdinand sat at on one of the park benches, missing his shoes; the rest of her group sat were talking to him, all but Ferdinand facing away from her. He glanced over at her and his eyes lit up in glee upon seeing her. “Edelgard! Did you get the treasure?” He asked expectedly. The rest of the group followed his line of sight to look upon her, they all shared his expression of hope and excitement.

She thrust the box up in the air victoriously and spoke back with a smug tone. “Oh yes I did Ferdinand, the treasure is ours!”

The other three ran towards her, crowding around her in a semi-circle. “What’s in it Edelgard?” Said the girl. “Yeah, show us!” Spoke the Boy who had complained earlier. “Is it money?” asked the boy whom she had scared with her orders.

Ferdinand came from behind them to stand at her side, hobbling as the paved path stung his sock clad feet slightly. “Stop crowding her guys!” He looked at her, smiling. “Please Edelgard, tell us what it is?” he asked kindly.

Her face broke into another smile at this. “Its…” she dragged out the word for dramatic effect as she slowly reached into the box. She then quickly pulled out the five small pieces of paper that were to be their prizes. “…Ice Cream!”

Ferdinand and the others squealed and jumped for joy at this, truly nothing was more valuable to the six-year olds than sweets were. One of her teachers, Miss Roberts came over to investigate the commotion and the squeals of joy. “What’s the matter children?” The pieces of paper in Edelgard’s hand caught her attention. “Oh Edelgard, well done!” she turned around to tell the other teachers. “Edelgard’s group won. Let’s go round up the others so they can get some lunch.” She turned back towards the group with a smile on her face. “Come with me children, and we’ll get those coupons redeemed.” She beckoned the group to follow her to the ice cream cart by another park bench.

After all the children in her class had been rounded up from around the park, they had all sat down around in a big circle on a patch of grass in the middle of the park to have lunch, Edelgard and her group had already voraciously devoured their treat. The other kids in her class looked at her group with jealousy at the ice cream that she had won for them. They then finished their lunches and began walking back to their bus for the journey home.

After Edelgard and Ferdinand had sat down in their seats next to each other on the bus, Edelgard pulled out the lollipop that Catherine had given her earlier. Upon seeing it Ferdinand gaped. “Where did you get that? I want one.”

She smiled and offered it to him. “Here Ferdinand, because you got the dog mess on your shoe.” He quickly took it from her and started taking off the wrapping to eat it. “I got it from this kind lady after I found the treasure. She just asked me a few questions about the school, and she gave it to me.” Explained Edelgard. “She said her daughter is coming to academy next year and she wanted to know what it was like.”

“She wasn’t creepy? My dad said never to take candy from strangers.”

“I thought she was at first, but then she turned out to be really nice!” Edelgard stated happily. “She even likes saghert and cream.”

Ferdinand stuck his tongue out in disgust. “Ewww, she is weird if she likes that!” He cried. “Are you sure she was nice? She might have poisoned the candy you know.”

Edelgard looked at him bewildered. “Ferdinand… You’re eating the candy.”

He looked fearful for a second but quickly began licking the lollipop again. He shrugged his shoulders at her. She giggled at her friend’s antics. She looked out her window to see that they were quite close to the district where she lived. She turned back to Ferdinand. “I’ll have to get off soon. We’ll play tomorrow right?” she asked.

Ferdinand nodded instantly. “I nearly forgot! My dad’s friend from work is coming for business and he’s bringing his daughter with him. Something Varley I think? Is it ok if she plays with us?”

She smiled at the thought of another new potential friend to play with. She always loved having more people to play with and if they were really nice, they could be her one of her best friends! She hoped this girl was fun to play with. “Yeah! What’s she like?”

Ferdinand responded eagerly. “My mom heard that she’s a little quiet. And that she makes dolls!” He then looked slightly fearful once more. “I hope they aren’t magic dolls! You know, the ones who make you move when you don’t to?”

“Voodoo dolls? Don’t be silly Ferdinand! They aren’t real. And besides, the people who say those things are probably just mean anyway.” She stated resolutely.

“Yeah, probably. I hope she is fun to play with too!” He said, his earlier fear replaced by joy.

The bus then stopped, and her teacher called out to the students onboard. “Ok children, If you live in this district, time to get off.”

Edelgard stood up from her seat and shimmied past Ferdinand’s legs into the aisle of the bus. She said her goodbye and promised, once again, to play with him and the Varley girl tomorrow. Her and a few others walked off the bus and she saw that her eldest brother Thomas, who was 22 years old,was waiting on the sidewalk on the other side of the road. He waved at her as she stepped in his line of sight. “Hey El! Over here” he shouted over the road. She quickly ran over to him and hugged him as he crouched down with arms wide, ready for the embrace.

“Thomas! I thought dad was picking me up.”

He stood back up from their hug and ruffled her hair, she smiled at the affection. “Nice to see you squirt!” He said jokingly as she hadn’t said hello to him. “Dad was busy at work, so I came instead, that okay?”

She nodded but still looked disappointed. “Dad’s always busy, I just thought he would have come today.”

He smiled down at her as he took her hand and started to walk alongside her towards their home. “Enough about that, how was the field trip?”

“It was great! We had a treasure hunt, and we won. We got free ice cream!” She exclaimed in joy. She thought it best to not mention Catherine giving her a lollipop, lest she get the ‘don’t talk to strangers’ speech she knew she would get.

He chuckled at her excitement. “Ice cream huh? Save any for me?”

She shook her head, giggling. “Nuh uh, you have to get your own.” She laughed even harder when he feigned an expression of being hurt at her words. They soon came to the entrance of their home and opened the door to walk inside. Once she entered, she could see that Eliza and Richard, her second and third eldest siblings respectively, were setting the table ready for dinner, with all seven of her other siblings already sat down; eagerly awaiting their food. Thomas shut the door behind door behind them both and her brothers and sisters all turned towards the noise. Once they saw her, they all greeted her as one loud, cacophonous voice. She smiled at the greeting and sat down at the table between her youngest sister Amelia and her second eldest sister, Morrigan.

Once she had sat down, Eliza and Richard and went into the kitchen to retrieve the dinner that they had been cooking for the family. Edelgard and all her siblings began digging in after the last plate had been set down, Eliza throwing her arms up in frustration after her futile attempt to get her siblings to eat in a way that didn’t resemble rabid dogs. Edelgard only slowed down her eating to help her baby sister cut up the meat on her plate.

Once the food had been thoroughly decimated, all the siblings around the table began talking about their days, with Edelgard once again reciting her tale of victory and ice cream. After the clean-up, Edelgard decided that the day had been long enough for her after eating so much food, she was probably having a sugar crash after all the sweets she had eaten in the day and decided to retire to bed. After saying goodnight to her family, with the exception of her father as once again he had decided that he would be staying in his office until past midnight, she changed into her pyjamas and fell asleep with thoughts of what games she would play with Ferdinand and their potential new friend tomorrow.

Sadly, she would never get the chance to play with her friends tomorrow, she would never get the chance to live as an innocent little girl, so full of hope, joy and drive ever again. She drifted off into slumber.

She never woke up to the three mysterious figures that had slipped unnoticed into her room, dressed in black. She never woke up as one slipped a needle into her arm, a sedative. She never woke up as the figure picked her up into their arms and another of the figures replaced her limp body with another girl, one who shared her exact features, a clone. She never woke up as the figures slipped out of her home, stealing her away from her loving family and her fun, carefree life. She never woke up when the figures placed her into a cryo pod, ready for transport. She never woke up until she was already in an unfamiliar and terrifying new place, where she would begin her new life.

As a Spartan.


	2. Draconic Influences and Rude Awakenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Halsey recruits experts for the Spartan-II program and Edelgard awakens to the beginning of her new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, an update! Sorry this took so long. I had a bit of trouble getting this 'down on paper' so to speak. Especially the intro (Which is still kind of clunky imo).
> 
> Content warning for the physical and psychological abuse of children. If such stuff affects you, please skip this chapter.

“As you can see, the training is… extensive. We need people with your experiences, both of you, to join us on this project to see it fulfilled.” Catherine Halsey spoke to the two people sat to her side.

She was currently sat in the middle of a large, expansive office. The room itself was a sterile grey. The only décor being the large mahogany desk in front of her and the chairs that sat at both sides of it. The two other individuals in the room were a man and a woman. The man was a well-built tower of muscle, his arms crisscrossed with a multitude of scars. His hair was a dark blonde, shaved at the sides. His taciturn face was framed by a chinstrap that spiked out at the back of his jawline.

“Just who is this training regime meant for Doctor?” The man questioned to the woman sat on his right, his steely, cognac brown eyes peering into her with thinly veiled suspicion. “Half of the soldiers in the Marine Corps couldn’t rough this, they’d probably drop dead by the end of it.” He turned his gaze back to the open dossier held in his hands, his eyes scanning through it for the umpteenth time since it was handed to him. “Whatever lab rats you got going through this torture, they’d better be the toughest sons of bitches you can find.”

The woman sat to his left hummed her agreement to his statement, looking up from her own copy of the dossier. She was petite in comparison to her companion, her face soft and framed by sage green hair, her large eyes the same shade. “I agree. You do realise this is what shock troopers go through right?” She asked, incredulously.

Halsey’s face did not shift from its emotionless mask. “Whomever the regime is intended for is on a strictly need to know basis.” She explained, addressing both of their questions. “And you will only need to know _if_ you accept the task of assisting me in overseeing this project. So… what is your answer?”

They both looked to each other for an answer, the woman frowned and shook her head lightly. The man closed his eyes in thought for just a moment before sighing deeply in frustration, his face pulling together in a grimace. His eyes reopened to look at Doctor Halsey once again. “We don’t have enough to go on, you’ll need to tell us more before we can give you an answer.”

Halsey’s face flashed in disappointment before she pulled it back into her stoic mask. “A shame then. I’m sorry Major. Doctor.” She nodded to the man and woman respectively. “But the project is classified tier one, I can’t tell you any more unless you agree to your assignment.”

“Now now Catherine, let us not be so hasty.” A new voice spoke to the three. They turned to look at the woman behind the desk. She had her back turned to them, looking through the bay window of her office. “I’m sure you can give them a little bit more information than that.” She continued as she turned around to face them. She stood before them regally, her bright mint green eyes radiating an aura of calm. “Sitri, Jeralt. I implore you to do the same. Please consider what the good doctor tells you before denying her.”

The woman, Sitri, responded to her. “Mother, surely you understand that we can’t just leave Remire? We both have careers there, lives of our own. And Byleth is happy there, we can’t take that away from her.”

The man, Jeralt, nodded along with her statement. “We can’t just up and leave. Not without a damn good reason.” He looked back over to Halsey. “If the Doctor is forthcoming about whatever Section 3’s cooking up… then we’ll consider her offer.”

Halsey glared at the woman standing behind the desk. “You agreed to let me handle this Rhea, don’t intervene.”

Rhea took the glare in stride, her face never shifting from its serene visage. “Just remember who funds section three, Catherine.” She threatened before continuing. “You said it yourself. You need their expertise. Surely you can relinquish some of the secrets of your new pet project.”

Halsey sighed in annoyance. She looked back over to Jeralt and Sitri. “We are restarting the ORION program.”

At this new information, Jeralt looked shocked. The ORION program had been the United Nations Space Command’s first attempt at creating super soldiers from amongst volunteers in the armed forces to fight the insurrection. It was a program that he himself had volunteered for soon after joining the UNSC. “ORION? But it was pretty much a failure. There were so few of us who went through it successfully and we have problems, even to this day.” Said Jeralt. Many of the ORION candidates had either failed to be enhanced by the augmentations or had contracted deadly side effects as a result, with him and a select few others suffering lesser ill effects.

“This new iteration of ORION is intended to improve upon its predecessor. The primary issue with the original project was its pool of candidates. So few of you were augmented successfully because your bodies lacked the capacity to adapt to the augmentations, your bodies already fully matured and unable to grow alongside them. Put simply, the candidates for ORION were too old.” Said Halsey, directed at Jeralt.

At this new information; Sitri perked up, curious. “Too old? Most of the candidates were in their twenties.” She sat forward in her chair; eyes half-closed in suspicion. “How much younger would your new candidates have to be?”

_This is it, moment of truth._ Thought Halsey, before answering Sitri’s question. “All of the candidates that have been selected were born in the year 2511.”

Shock and disgust flashed across both their faces. Jeralt was the first to voice his opinion. “You want to experiment on six-year olds?!” He exclaimed.

“No Major, the procedures will take place when the children are older. The augmentations they will undergo would kill them at such a young age.” She explained, correcting Jeralt. “But we must start them young to form them into the perfect soldier. Those who volunteered for ORION had lives outside of the UNSC; families to return to. Their ideologies could be shaped. Their loyalty to Earth and the UNSC was assumed. You saw this yourself, Major, with how many of your fellow candidates refused to combat the Insurrection once they had undergone their procedures.” The insurrection; a rebel movement that encompassed many of the outer colonies. Their ranks consisted of disgruntled colonists that believed the UEG to be more akin to a dictatorship than an actual governing body that represented them and their interests. Many personnel in service to the UNSC considered these colonies to be their home worlds and had been sympathetic to the cause of the Insurrection, believing that the government they served had failed to give the colonies self-governance and a voice of their own.

Halsey continued. “We would drill into them absolute loyalty to the UNSC. Acclimate them to an environment where they will be taught exactly what their role is and what will they have to undergo to fulfil that role. We will tell them that they are the only hope humanity has to not be plunged into a devastating civil war between Earth and the Outer Colonies.” She reached into a satchel that she had brought with her, pulling out a beige folder and handing it over to Jeralt so that they both could look through it. “The screening process for these children has been extensive. We have scoured through over 30 billion records stored in the colonial vaccination database just to narrow it down to these 75. Those we have selected are stronger, faster and smarter than the rest of their peers. The perfect specimens, if you will. And so, it is our prediction that their bodies would be more malleable; more adaptable to augmentation.”

Sitri flipped through the new document, seeing the information of all 75 children printed within. She read all their names and the numbers that had been assigned to them. _Kurt 051: Khalid 088: Grace 093: Frederic 104: Dimitri 150. All of them six years old, or soon to be. These poor kids are going to be kidnapped? Taken from their homes and families?_ Thought Sitri. She looked up from reading the file to glare at Halsey. “Pray tell Doctor. How, exactly, do you intend to cover up the kidnappings of 75 children? It’s not exactly going to go unnoticed now, is it?”

Halsey chose to ignore Sitri’s glare and began to explain. “We’ll replace the children with flash clones. Grown quickly to reach the same physical maturity as the candidates.”

Jeralt spoke up. “Then why not use the clones? If these kids’ bodies are so perfect, then why kidnap them at all? Just clone them and leave it at that.” He was angry, thinking of the children that would be stolen away to a military complex somewhere. Living a life of hardship and servitude instead of growing up loved and cared for by their families. He thought of his own daughter, the very idea of her being taken away like these other children sickening him to his core.

Halsey shook her head slowly, her face growing sombre. Guilty even. “If I could use the clones instead, then I would; In an instant. But the cloning process is imperfect. They break down too fast and would die before we could even train them. We have no choice. It must be the children.”

Rhea was still stood behind her desk, watching all this unfold. She could see that Halsey was trying to put up a front of stoicism, however, she was able to see right through it. The guilt of what she must do in the coming months weighing heavily on her; despite this, Rhea knew Catherine. Knew that she would be able to make the hard choice for the greater good. She decided that Jeralt and Sitri had heard enough to make their decision by now and offered her own voice. “I believe you are both sufficiently informed yes? What do you say? Will you join the project?”

Sitri answered first. “We still don’t know why you need us specifically. Surely ONI has enough staff on hand to oversee this project?”

Halsey quirked her brow, confused. “I thought the ‘why’ would have been obvious Doctor Eisner. You—” She gestured to Sitri. “—are one of the greatest minds we have in cybernetics and advanced prosthesis. The augmentations that the candidates will undergo are technological as opposed to chemical and thus will be extremely dangerous. We need your expertise to lower the risk factors as much as possible.” She then turned her attention towards Jeralt. “And you Major, are one of the greatest soldiers the UNSC has ever had grace its ranks. Your experience in battle will be invaluable to pass on to the candidates. The first generation of ORION teaching the next.”

Jeralt scoffed. “I don’t know if you’ve heard Doc, but I’m retired now. I won’t be training anyone, let alone your goddamn child soldiers.” Anger spiked in his voice at the latter sentence.

“I’m well aware of your retirement Major. The role would be purely advisory, no physical tutelage required. Your experience in the field is the only thing I am asking of you to give. The physical training will be handled by one: Franklin Mendez, a Petty Officer with extensive combat experience, not comparable to yours, but, impressive nonetheless.”

Sitri leaned into Jeralt’s ear and began to whisper. “I know what she’s doing is sick but hear me out. No matter what we do, these children are going to be kidnapped anyway. If we work for ONI just this once; we can do everything in our power to make sure these children aren’t suffering needlessly.”

Jeralt Whispered back, defeatedly. “I know what you mean. Better us than some ONI spook who’s only going to see them as test subjects, yeah?” Sitri nodded at that, so Jeralt continued. “ _If_ we do take this on… we’d have to move away from Remire. Away from the life we have there.”

Sitri gave a slight nod, frowning. “We have to assume we’ll be going to a world with a large UNSC presence. Camber or Tantalus maybe? Wherever we go… It’ll be a long way from Remire. Byleth’s definitely going to be upset.”

“Yeah, but she’ll be alright, that kid never lets anything get her down for down.” He smiled at the thought of their daughter. His face turned serious as he spoke once more. “So… we’re really gonna do this?”

Sitri gave a single resolute nod and turned back to Halsey, who had clearly grown bored waiting for their hushed conversation to end. “We’ll do it.” Was her simple answer.

It seemed that both Rhea and Halsey were pleased with that answer. Halsey seeming more relieved than Rhea. Perhaps she had thought the same as Jeralt and Sitri. Knowing that they would treat the children well, especially when compared to the spooks that ONI would have provided her if they had declined. “Excellent. I’ll get your travel documentation fast tracked and you’ll be on your way to Reach before the end of the month.” They hadn’t expected that it seemed. Their expressions that of mild surprise. Reach was a fortress world, a colossal military power, second only to Earth itself. Its mines providing the UNSC with the bulk of its titanium supply. Used to build star ships and other instruments of war.

“That’s quite an upgrade from Remire.” Said Jeralt.

Halsey nodded at that. “With how sensitive the secrecy of this program is going to be; we’ll need a sizeable UNSC presence planetside to mask the movements of any resources the project may require. Reach was simply the best choice.” She paused before she spoke once more. “One other thing I neglected to mention, especially as this concerns you major. To honour the sacrifices of those who came before as part of ORION, we gave generation two a new moniker, so as to set it apart, make it unique.”

“And what would that be Doctor?” He asked, curious.

Halsey answered, resolute. “Spartan II.”

* * *

Edelgard stood at the centre of a grand stone cathedral, its ceilings reaching up high up into the heavens. Her eyes darted over every corner of the aged structure, seeing that every wall was covered in a thick black smoke. The pitch-black ichor blocked whatever was beyond it from view. She called out, hoping that someone would hear her. “Hello! Is anyone there?” Only silence answered her. She began to walk towards the black smoke directly in front of her. As she edged closer, the wall of black tendrils stretched back, putting her back to the same distance from it as she was before. Edelgard flinched at the sudden movement of the smoke, shocked, but then marched back towards it. As she reached the wall again, it reacted as it had before, moving away from her and putting her back into the centre of the barren stone room. She tried once, twice and thrice more to do the same, but the room shifted back each time. The young girl voiced her growing frustration to the empty space around her. “Who’s doing this? This isn’t funny you know!” Once again, nothing responded. “Well, some weird smoke isn’t going to stop me.” She growled, moving to march into the black amorphous smoke once more. As she took her first step, the room shook and a resounding, thunderous crash came from the wall of smoke, this time from behind her. “H-hello?” She stuttered. The room shook once more, the crash returning; seemingly closer now. “Who-whoever’s there. I’m not afraid of you!” The crash came again, getting louder. Again and again it came shaking the ground and walls, increasing in both speed and volume. Edelgard stepped back in fear, until she backed into a wall. She turned, seeing that the smoke now no longer moved away from her. She tried to reach into it, but the smoke was as solid as any concrete. She hit her hands against it in a futile attempt to get out, to get away from this place.

“Please! Anyone. Let me out!” She shouted to no avail, still banging her balled up hands against the barrier. The crashes came closer and closer, now seeming to be only just beyond the threshold of the smoke wall opposite her. Until suddenly, they stopped. Edelgard turned, breathing heavily, to see why they had ceased. There was nothing in the room with her, but she could hear something. A quiet movement of air, with something underlying it. Almost like a growl. _It sounds almost like… breathing?_ Thought Edelgard as she waited for something, anything, to come through into the space with her. She widened her eyes in shock and gasped as something finally came through. A giant claw, sickly grey and attached to talons that seemed to be longer than Edelgard was tall. As the claw slammed against the ground, the entire room shook as it had before. More of whatever the claw was attached to came through the thick miasma. A leg, thicker than a tree trunk and covered in scales. More and more of the creature peered through and revealed itself to be a reptilian behemoth. A monster covered from head to spiked tail in scales of stark white and light grey; Its face long and thin with a row of jagged teeth filling its cavernous mouth. Four curved horns sat upon the crest of its head, long and sharp enough to skewer Edelgard where she stood.

WAKE UP.

Wings unfurled from the creature’s back, leathery and massive, blanketing the room in darkness. This was a dragon.

WAKE UP.

The dragon’s mouth opened slightly, a booming voice tearing out of its throat. “Give it back!”

WAKE UP

The dragon’s maw gaped to its full extent, an orange glow gathering within.

**WAKE UP**

The glow grew until it became blinding, forcing Edelgard to put her arm in front of her eyes. The glow hit its apex and shot forward from the dragon’s mouth, arcing straight towards her. She felt the heat of the blast, felt her skin heating up and boiling away from the searing attack.

“Wake up boot!”

Edelgard’s eyes snapped open at the voice. Blinking her eyes to get rid of any blur. She looked around and realised that she wasn’t in her own room. The space far too open, like a warehouse covered in bare steel walls.

She stared up at where the voice come from, staring into the blood red eyes of a woman wearing a look of disdain on her face, as though Edelgard were a disgusting insect beneath her boot. She was dressed in dark grey military fatigues, the name tag on her left breast displaying ‘M. Ochs’. “I said up, maggot! You know what up means?!” The woman shouted, raising her hand, spit flying from the force of her yelling.

Edelgard flinched at the woman’s words, eyes darting to the hand poised to strike her, seeing that she held a long silver stick, a baton. “W-where am I? Who are you?” She asked, fearful of the woman loud woman and her weapon.

The woman snarled and her other hand shot open, gripping Edelgard’s arm and pulling her out of the bed, forcing her to her feet. Before Edelgard could even respond to the harsh treatment, the woman yelled again. “Are you deaf, boot? When I give you an order you follow it! Now get in line!”

Now that Edelgard was on her feet, she looked around at the large room around her. There were numerous beds spaced around, each with another child either still in them or just getting out. Each of these children seemed to be around the same age as Edelgard, no one she knew, however. There were also even more adults, dressed in the same dark grey uniform as the woman who had just ripped her out of bed, also wielding the same silver baton that she had; Seemingly one for each child.

The woman, now behind her, pushed her out into where all the other children were now lining up, being marched out to a large open door. As she moved forward with the other children, she could see a boy get out of his bed, seeming to be the last one to do so. The man hovering over him marched over. “Last one up gets it Hor-hay!” He shouted.

The boy seemed offended, responding back in kind. “It’s pronounced George!”

Edelgard could see that the boy’s response had struck a nerve. “Don’t backtalk me Hor-hay!” He shouted, prodding the boy in the chest with his baton. A bright blue light arced from the tip of the baton into the boy’s chest, sending him to the floor clutching his body where it had struck. As the boy rolled on the ground in pain, Edelgard could see a name and number emblazoned over the chest of his black tank-top that she and all the other children around her seemed to be wearing, ‘Jorge-052.’ Edelgard looked down at her own clothes and saw that ‘Edelgard-020’ had been printed upon it.

Edelgard readied to scold the man for being a bully, but a boy standing a few spaces in front of her beat her to it. “Hey, come on man! He didn’t deserve that!” He yelled, getting the attention of the man at his side and the man that had just struck Jorge. The boy had light brown skin and dark spiked hair; His eyes a verdant green. A braid settled over the right of his face just in front of his ear.

The man at his side, snapped his gaze to the boy. “You’d better shut the fuck up Claude!” He yelled, his yellow eyes alight with rage. The man was large and hairy like an ape, his face marked with several long scars. Edelgard looked at his name tag, the patch displaying ‘V. Nader’.

The boy turned and stared up at him. ‘Khalid-088’ printed into his tank-top. “My name’s Khalid you idiot!” He shouted in retaliation.

The man lips grew into a sickening smile. “Your name’s whatever I say it is maggot!” He brought his baton back and swung it into the boy’s side, opting to use it as a club. His smile became wider as the boy crumpled to the floor, seeming to enjoy the pain he caused.

The woman behind Edelgard pushed her forward. “That’s what’ll happen to you if you don’t get moving.” She threatened. Edelgard decided that she didn’t want to experience what Khalid and Jorge had, so she joined the other kids marching in a line to an unknown destination.

As the line of children were marched outside, Edelgard could finally try to figure out where she was. It seemed that they were in a complex of some kind, several large, grey and militaristic buildings surrounded them. The land they walked upon was arid and scorching hot, a contrast to the verdant and mild landscape that her home on Adrestia had been famed for. She looked up into the clear blue sky above her, seeing that past the cargo ships flying overhead, the planet had two moons, both dark blue and large.

The sky was covered up once more as the children were led into another building, being directed into a large amphitheatre. She and the other children were ordered to sit down in the rows of seats. Edelgard sat down next to a boy with shoulder length blonde hair, and large blue eyes. He turned to her with a weary expression, one seemingly shared by most of the other children around her. “Hello, my name is Dimitri. What’s yours?” He spoke softly, surely still shaken by waking up in a new and unfamiliar place. The writing on his chest showing ‘Dimitri-150’.

She responded in a low voice as the other kids around her began talking amongst themselves, all looking to each other in the hope to find answers. “I’m Edelgard… do you know where we are?” She asked, hopeful that he might have known.

The boy shook his head. “No. I have no idea where this place is. It certainly isn’t anywhere on Faerghus. Might I ask where you are from?” He asked politley.

"Adrestia." She answered. "Which this planet certainly isn't. _We_ only have onemoon."

Edelgard heard a sharp hiss of pain from her right, both her and Dimitri turning to see the boy from before, Khalid, sit down next to her. He was still holding his ribs where the man had clubbed him earlier. “Are you ok?” She asked, worried.

He gave her a sidelong glance, suspicious, but answered nonetheless. “Yeah, I’m good.” He answered through gritted teeth. His eyes looked down at her and Dimitri’s clothes, reading their names. “Nice to meet you Edelgard. Dimitri. I’m Khalid.” He said, polite, but with a pained smile. “Where are you guys from?”

Dimitri answered for both of them. “I’m from Faerghus and Edelgard is from Adrestia. What about you?”

“Me? I’m from Almyra.” It seemed that both had never heard of the colony. He saw their looks of confusion and explained. “It’s a backwater in the middle of nowhere. Don’t worry, most people have never heard of it.”

Edelgard was about to ask him if he knew where they were, just as she had with Dimitri. But before she could speak, she was interrupted by a woman taking the centre stage of the amphitheatre, clearing her throat loudly to grab the attention of the children sat before her. Edelgard recognised her, it was the woman whom had been kind to her in the park, the one who gave her a treat for answering her questions. Catherine Halsey. Where her face had once worn an expression of gentle kindness in the park, it was now set in stone, cold and calculating; as though this were an altogether entirely different person.

Her voice was smooth and monotone as she spoke. “As per Naval Code 45812, you are hereby conscripted into the UNSC special project, codenamed SPARTAN-II.”

Edelgard and all the others around her were even more confused now. A few of them, including Dimitri stood up from their seats, perhaps in an attempt to leave but were stopped by the adults around them. The man forcing Dimitri to sit back down was towering and stern, his light orange hair done up in a ponytail. His nametag showing his name to ‘G. Pronislav’.

The woman on the stage continued after the children were all kept quiet, taking a step forward. “You have been called upon to serve. You will be trained… and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies.”

_Protectors? Like… heroes?_ Thought Edelgard as her and a majority of the other kids perked up, curious, at the prospect of being protectors. Their young, naïve minds thinking of a plethora of scenarios in which they would be saviours of the innocent and the downtrodden.

The woman spoke once more. “This will be hard to understand, but you cannot return to your parents.” The children were stunned at that, again beginning to stir from their seats, requiring their handlers to get them to settle back down. “This place will be your home. Your fellow trainees will become your family now. The training will be difficult. There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead, but I know you will all make it.” She paused to let her words sink in before continuing. “We begin today.” She finished, walking over to the side of the stage where three others stood: A large man with sandy blonde hair shaved at the sides: A woman with long, sage green hair and another man, lean and rather unimpressive with his close shaved hair and dark grey eyes.

Edelgard was still stunned, still processing what the woman had just told them. _I can’t see my family? Ever again? Never see my brothers and sisters. See them grow up alongside me? Why?_ She thought.

A number of the other children voiced their concerns. “Where’s my mommy?” A girl asked. “When can we eat?” Asked a boy. “I want to go home!” Yelled another boy.

All their complaints fell on deaf ears as their handlers made them stand and begin marching back towards the door which they had came in through. Once outside, the handlers had them line up in five rows of equal length, with a few feet between each of them. Now that they were out in the open and lined up, Edelgard could count how many of them were here. She counted 15 children in each row, meaning that were 74 other children here with her. _What do they want with us? Why did they take me from my home?_ She thought, still confused.

The children’s attention was brought to the front of them as the two men that Halsey had been conversing on the stage in the amphitheatre stood before them. The leaner of the two stepped forward and began to talk. “I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez, the man beside me is Major Eisner.” He then gestured to one of the people dressed in dark grey, hovering over the child next to them. “These men and women are your handlers and instructors.” Edelgard glanced up at the woman with blood red hair and eyes next to her, the woman returned the look with a hate filled one of her own. Edelgard quickly averted her eyes and looked back at Mendez.

“Jumping jacks!” He shouted, suddenly. “Count off to one-hundred. Ready. Go!” She and the other children began to do as they were ordered. One boy however, two rows in front of her, hesitated too long for his handler’s liking. The woman snarled and jammed her baton in between his shoulder blades, leaving him on his knees gasping for breath. She pulled him back up by his arm, yelling. “Get with the program boot!” The boy quickly began the exercise, eager to catch up with his peers, if only to not get punished again.

Sweat trickled down Edelgard’s back and forehead as Mendez counted off their jumping jacks. “97-98-99-100!” The children were all panting at the exertion, their bodies not used to being pushed so far. “Sit-ups! Count off to one hundred. No slacking.” A few of them groaned at the order. “The first crewman who quits gets to run around the complex twice. Then they come back here and do two hundred sit-ups!” They quickly dropped to the ground, not wanting to go through that torture. Deep squats followed. Then Burpees.

Edelgard and a few others threw up from the exertion. But their instructors were on them in an instant. Edelgard stood back up to avoid being beaten. “Leg raises!” Yelled Mendez. Edelgard’s body was close to giving out, her muscles already sore and aching, but she wanted to avoid the baton if possible.

As she and the others finished their 100th leg raise, all of their bodies ready to give, Mendez called out. “Rest.” Collectively they all collapsed, dropping to their knees or faceplanting into the grass beneath them. Sweat rolled off their skin like waterfalls. “Trainers, get the water.” He called out to a few of their instructors. They returned with carts, stocked with water bottles. All of the children clamoured for the chance to rehydrate. To Edelgard, it tasted like the best water she had tasted in her life. Comparable to liquid gold, in her mind.

As she sat down on the patch of grass, her heart hammering in her chest and her lungs burning, she looked over at all the children around her, reading the names that she could see. William-043: Serin-019: Carris-137: Randall-037. Of all the 74 kids around her, she didn’t recognise a single one. She wondered what her Siblings were doing at this very moment, where they were, whether they were looking for her or if her disappearance had even been noticed by them. Her thoughts were interrupted by Chief Mendez’s shouting, apparently having decided they had rested long enough.

“Good start trainees.” He said, not sounding particularly proud of them. “Now we run. On your feet!” The instructors were quick to get them up. If any were too slow for their liking, they were struck by the batons.

They were quickly herded into their rows, made to jog around the compound. The path they took, paved with gravel, seemed to go on forever. Having them run alongside river, over a bridge and past a runway; with two jets taking off at hypersonic speeds. Once they had run for an unknown number of miles, they came to a jagged zigzagging path, made of stone. Edelgard wanted to think about what the people her could possibly want with her and these other children, how she could escape this place and get back to her home but all she could think about was how her body ached and how her lungs felt as though they were on fire.

“Stop here trainees!” Yelled Mendez, Halting next to a doorway to a large building. The children stopped as ordered. He stayed at the side of the doorway, watching them being led into the structure by their trainers.

As Edelgard and the others were shepherded inside and led into what looked like a barebones and undecorated classroom, with a standard holotable in the middle of it. They were ordered by their instructors to take their seats. As they sat down, a woman appeared in the centre of the room, next to the holotable. She was wrapped in what looked like a white sheet, her feet partially covered by golden sandals and her biceps adorned with golden armlets. Her entire body glowed white, almost ethereal but still unnaturally, as though it were fake. Edelgard looked up into the ceiling, seeing three mechanical arms installed within, all of them had a light projector attached at the tip. Edelgard then realised why this woman, who had seemed almost like a goddess at first sight, seemed to be not quite real. She was an AI.

“Greetings children. My name is Déjà, I shall be your teacher from now on. Please get comfortable. Class is about to begin.” A few of the children groaned and grumbled at the prospect of school. Déjà smiled at them. “If class is not to your liking, you are more than welcome to retake this morning’s calisthenics.” They settled down at that, wanting nothing more than to avoid the training they had gone through earlier.

As Déjà started the lesson, their instructors came by their seats with metal trays, their first meal of the day. It was only a few plain crackers and a carton of milk, but to the exhausted children, it may well have been a banquet. Edelgard picked up a cracker and bit into it, finding that it tasted rather like cardboard. The boy next to her however devoured his meal, the crackers disappearing down his gullet. Edelgard moved to scold him for acting like a pig but quickly had her attention grabbed by Déjà’s lesson. The AI taught them about a king of Ancient Greece, Leonidas. How he and his 300 Spartans held a passage into Greece called the Hot Gates from the invading Persian army for over three days. A fully animated holographic depiction of the battle was on full display for the children to watch on the holotable. The hologram showed the small army of Spartans hold back the seemingly unstoppable Persian horde, the children cheered as the invincible Greeks took victory for the day. Edelgard was enraptured by the lesson, always preferring academic activities over physical ones, so much so that she never noticed that the boy next to her had stolen the crackers from her tray. She looked down and noticed that two of them were missing, she snapped her head over to the piggish boy next to her, seeing that he had more crumbs over his mouth and lap than he had before.

_This selfish thief!_ She thought, angry at the boy for stealing her food. But before she could tell him off, Déjà’s lesson had ended and their instructors ordered them out of their seats, marching them outside for the third time that day.

Being inside the cool classroom, Edelgard had nearly forgotten how scorching hot the sun on this planet was, but as she stepped outside of the building, she was quickly reminded. Her skin already beginning to perspire from the sweltering heat. Mendez was outside, waiting for them. “Time for the playground, trainees.” _A playground? Finally! A chance to relax._ She thought. “It’s a short run. Fall in.” Finished Mendez.

The ‘short run’ turned out to be over two miles, taking them away from the complex and into a large, open clearing. The ‘playground’ turned out to be a sizeable obstacle course. A wooden structure dotted with tall wooden poles, connected by rope nets and bridges. Several swings and suspended platforms were dotted around the obstacle course, as well as a wooden basket connected a pulley system at one end of the ‘playground’.

“Trainees. From three rows.” Mendez called out to them, the trainees quickly doing as ordered, wanting to avoid the instructors’ wrath. Edelgard stood at the end of the first row. “For this exercise, the first person in each row will be team number one, the second will be team number two… and so on.” Edelgard looked to her left, seeing that she stood next to the two boys from earlier, Dimitri and Khalid. “If anyone does not understand, speak now.” No one spoke up, so he continued. “Today’s game is called ‘Ring the bell’.” He pointed up to the playground, at the tallest wooden pole, it was easily ten metres taller than the others. A large brass bell sat at its apex. “There are many ways to get the bell. I’ll leave it up to each team to find their own way. When every member of your team has rung the bell, you are to get back groundside and run across this finish line.” He grabbed a stun baton from one of the instructors, using it to draw a line in the dirt at his feet.

A boy raised his hand in the row behind Edelgard. Mendez glared at him. “A question trainee?” He asked.

The boy spoke. “What do we win?” A question that a few of the children had been wondering but were too afraid to ask.

“You win dinner, number 117. Tonight, dinner is roast turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies and ice cream.” Edelgard grew excited at the chance of having some real food, especially the ice cream. “But.” Mendez continued. “For there to be a winner, there must also be a loser. The last team to cross the finish line goes without food.” They all looked at each other, wary, now more motivated than ever to win. “Make ready.” He finished.

Edelgard leaned in to whisper to Dimitri and Khalid, also grabbing the attention of two other girls. One was lanky with light blue hair and dark, chestnut eyes. Her expression soft. ‘Marianne-071’ was stencilled into her top **.** The other had mauve hair, with bright pink eyes that held a spark of competition. It was clear to see that she wanted to win this exercise. Her top read ‘Lysithea-014’. “We’ll all have to work together on this. If any of us go it alone, we’ll definitely lose.”

“Agreed,” Said Dimitri. The other three nodding their own agreement. They were all starving, having only eaten the crackers from earlier. They were desperate to win, just to quell the ache in their stomachs.

“Go!” Mendez shouted. The children quickly dashed forward, grabbing onto a net made of rope. They climbed up onto a platform, seeing a wooden bridge to cross over to a large gap between platforms. Underneath the bridge was a large pool of water. Six children raced past Edelgard, over the bridge, but only one made it across as the bridge flipped on its axis and bucked them off. They dropped into the cold water beneath them. Edelgard, Khalid, Dimitri, Lysithea and Marianne quickly made it over the bridge before it flipped again. On their left were a set of climbing ropes leading up to the platform where the bell-pole sat, one boy already opting to use them instead of waiting for his team. On their right sat a row of large wooden baskets with a pulley system attached, large enough for one of them to get in. Edelgard and her group quickly moved toward the baskets, opting to keep to their agreement that teamwork was the best way to get through this.

“Which one of us goes first?” Asked Marianne.

Khalid looked over their little group, scanning them. He rested his eyes on Edelgard. “Edelgard. You go first. You’re the lightest here.”

“Are you sure?” She asked. They all nodded, agreeing with Khalid. She moved forward, stepping into the basket. Dimitri took one end of rope and Marianne took the other. They both pulled down on the pulley and the basket began to lift into the air with Edelgard inside. Once it came to the apex of the platform above her, she jumped out and looked back down at the rest of her team.

Lysithea looked up and shouted to her. “Go! We’ll get the rest of the team up!” Edelgard wanted to stay and help them somehow, but there was nothing she could do from the top of the platform. So she decided she would move forward to the finish line.

She turned toward the rest of the obstacle course and saw that the pole with the brass bell atop it was only a short sprint away on the next platform over. The two platforms were connected by a single smooth log of wood, only thick enough for one person to cross over at a time. Edelgard quickly stepped on it and began moving across, almost losing her balance and falling into the pool of water below. She was desperate not to fall in, mostly so as not to let her team down, but also because she had never learned to swim. Something that her friend Ferdinand had teased her endlessly about. _Ferdinand. My best friend. I was supposed play with him and that Bernadetta girl. Is he missing me? Is my family? Are they looking for me?_ She thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by her stomach growling at her, hunger pangs bringing her back to the real world. _No! I have to focus on this! We need to eat._

Edelgard promptly made it over to the other platform and began running to the pole. She would have to climb it to ring the bell. She was just about to make a lunge for the pole, but before she could make her attempt, she felt a force at her side push her out of its way and onto floor. Her elbow scraped against the wood, the skin became scraped and bloodied. She pushed herself up with her palms to see who had pushed her. A boy, the one who had opted to use the climbing ropes instead of the baskets to get up, was climbing the pole. He reached the top and rang the bell before dropping back down. Before he could run back down to the end of the course where Chief Mendez stood, Edelgard called out to him.

“Hey! What was that for? I was about to ring the bell!” She yelled. Angry at the boy’s brutish behaviour.

He turned around to her with a smug smile on his face. It was the boy whom she had sat next to in the classroom, the one who had stolen her food. The stencil on his top read ‘John-117’. “Be quicker next time.” He said mockingly, before jumping down onto the next platform towards the finish line.

Edelgard stood up angrily. She ran over to the pole and climbed to the top. She reached for the bell and pulled the string, it rang out, signalling her success. She dropped back down and followed the path down towards the finish line. As she crossed it, she could see the boy who had pushed her talking up to Mendez.

“I was first.” He said to the Chief, smiling, but he was ignored by Mendez. Edelgard glared at the back of his head. Hoping to burn a hole through it if she could. Mendez ignored the boy and looked toward the other trainees now crossing the finishing line, Lysithea and Khalid among them. They both smiled at Edelgard as they stood next to her.

Over the next 20 minutes all 75 recruits had crossed the finishing line, with a tall, sandy haired boy and a dark-blue haired girl being the last two to do so. Their tops read ‘Samuel-034’ and ‘Kelly-087’ respectively. They both glared at the boy who had came first, John, with him ignoring their looks. This boy already seemed to be very unpopular with the other kids already. As they crossed the line, Mendez looked up from his stopwatch to speak the children. “Good work, trainees.” He said, a ghost of a smile flashed across his face, but nothing more. “Let’s get back to the barracks and chow down.” The children all cheered at that, some soaked to the bone and others covered in mud. “—All except team three.” He finished, looking at the trainees that had been in the third row, the boy who had pushed Edelgard down included among them.

John protested. “But I came first! I won!”

Mendez opened his mouth to scold John but shut it as he saw another man walk over. It was the large, muscular man that had been stood at the side of the stage of the amphitheatre. His name tag read ‘J. Eisner’. He looked down at John as one would a pest. Clearly annoyed at the boy’s attitude. “ _You_ were first. But your team came in last.” He said, turning to look at the rest of them. “Remember this: you don’t win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means that you all lose.” His voice was clear and powerful. “The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Remember that. You’ll be learning more about wolves with Déjà, tomorrow.” He looked back over to Mendez. “Get these trainees back to the barracks, Petty Officer.” He ordered.

Mendez nodded. “Yes sir. You heard him recruits. Fall in!”

They all quickly got into their lines and began the 2-mile jog back to the complex, some of them glaring at John as they saw him as the reason that they would miss out on a meal that night. When they finally got back to the main area of the base, they were led into a large cafeteria. The team that had lost were made to sit down at some of the tables that were spaced around the room with only jugs of water as their sustenance, while the two winning teams lined up with steel trays, waiting to get their fill of turkey and ice cream.

As soon as Edelgard sat down, she tore into the dinner before her, forgetting the decorum she was taught to have at the dinner table due to how hungry she was. The four she had worked alongside on the obstacle course: Marianne, Lysithea, Khalid and Dimitri, joined her at the table alongside three other new faces. Two boys, Kurt-051 and Jorge-052, the boy who had been the first to be punished by the instructors this morning. The other newcomer was a girl who had very similar features to Dimitri with blonde hair and blue eyes, her stencilled name read ‘Daisy-023’. As soon as they sat, they began to devour their first proper meal since waking up in this strange place. As they ate, Edelgard could see that John was being scolded by the other kids sat down with him, an apologetic look upon his face. _They’re going to starve if they don’t get something to eat._ She thought. She looked down at her own tray, at the small brownie that she had been given by kitchen staff. She turned to the others with an idea. “Hey.” She announced, grabbing their attention. “I think we should save the brownies. For the others.” They followed her gaze to where the losing team were sat.

Daisy spoke up. “We earned this. And that boy over there pushed you, didn’t he? As far as I’m concerned, they don’t deserve anything.” It seemed this girl was possessive over her food. The idea of the others going without didn’t seem to faze her.

Lysithea nodded along in agreement. “I’ve worked too hard today to just give any of my food away. Especially my brownie.”

Marianne piped up next to her. “I don’t think its right that they get _nothing_. I think it’s a good idea.” She smiled kindly at Edelgard.

Jorge also spoke up, to agree with Marianne. “Yeah, I know if I wasn’t given any food, I’d like to have _something_ at least.”

Kurt voiced his opinion. “Nah, they lost. Let them deal with it. Ain’t got nothing to do with us.” His response made Edelgard think he was rather bratty and selfish.

Edelgard, Marianne and Jorge looked to Dimitri next. He blushed at the attention, embarrassed, but gave his opinion nonetheless. “I have to agree with Edelgard. We can’t just let them go hungry.”

Everyone on the table then looked towards the only person who, until now, had been content to just watch their debate unfold. Khalid quirked his eyebrow in amusement as everyone looked to him. “Well. Looks like I’m the deciding vote.” He said, smiling. He then shrugged nonchalantly. “Why not? All of us got worked pretty hard today.” This had Lysithea, Daisy and Kurt scowling, but they relented. Wrapping their brownies in the provided napkins and placing it in their pockets. None of them noticed Catherine Halsey observing their behaviour from across the room, notebook in hand.

After the trainees had finished their meals, they were led back to where they had woken up that very morning. Their barracks. “Shower up and get rested, trainees. Physical exercise begins at 0600 tomorrow.” The children, Edelgard included, grumbled at that. They quickly shut themselves up under threat of their instructor’s batons. “A change of clothes can be found in the footlockers at the front of your beds. “Make sure you get enough sleep. You’ll be needing it.” He turned and left after that, leaving the kids on their own in the barracks and locking the door.

The children moved toward the showers, eager to get the muck and grime of the day off of their bodies. Edelgard spotted at the back of the crowd, still looking rather upset. She moved behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around in surprise at the touch, his hand reflexively moving to defend himself. He calmed when he realised that it was just her. “What do you want?” He asked tersely.

“A few of us felt that it was unfair for you guys to not have any food—” She pulled the wrapped-up brownie from her shorts’ pocket. “—So, we saved some of these for you.” She held it out for him to take.

John took it gently, unwrapping it to reveal the chocolate treat. He looked at it like it was the first bit of food he had seen all day, which it might as well have been. The crackers from earlier not really counting as a proper source of nutrition. He looked back at her bashfully, his face once again becoming apologetic, like it had before. “Thank you… Sorry for pushing you over earlier. I just really wanted to win.”

Edelgard smiled slightly. “I forgive you. Today has been really weird. For all of us.” She looked past him to see Dimitri and the others giving their treats out to the kids who hadn’t had a chance to eat.

“I’m also sorry for stealing your crackers in class today.” He added.

“I knew it was you!” She shouted. He ran toward the showers laughing, eating his brownie.

After about half an hour, all the trainees had washed and donned a new change of clothes. Something which Edelgard was grateful for, the sweat and grime of their extraneous day becoming almost suffocating. Once she was changed, she finally had a chance to look around the barracks, being too disoriented to do so when they were first woken up. She came to her bunk, drab and unadorned. Her name and number, ‘Edelgard-020’ engraved into the footlocker at the front of the bed. Dimitri and Khalid were in the bunks either side of hers, with Lysithea’s bunk directly opposite her. She said goodnight to the other children around her, with most of them saying it back. Being as exhausted as she was from the extensive activities of the day, it was no surprise when she fell into a deep sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Her dreams that night were filled of memories of her family and friends, instead of Immaculate dragons and scorching heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: The Master Chief does in fact, canonically, steal crackers from an unnamed female Spartan who is sat next to him. The little shit.
> 
> Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. Because as the starting note stated, the intro gave me a lot of trouble. I also took the time to read the first 3 Halo novels to gain a better understanding of the world.
> 
> Please don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of this chapter. I'll see you next time ;D.


	3. Running From Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training continues and Edelgard meets someone of great importance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last chapter of build up before we get into the real juicy stuff, coming in the next update.

“Wake up trainee!”

Edelgard’s eyes snapped open at the voice, her body instinctively shooting up to a sitting position at the sudden shock. She quickly locked onto the crimson, hateful eyes of her instructor. The woman, whom she only knew as ‘Ochs’ from her nametag, was leering over Edelgard’s bed, poised to strike at a moment’s notice with her stun baton.

“Do I have to repeat myself, Boot? Get the fuck out of bed!” Spat ‘Ochs’. She brought the baton up, level with her chest, as a threat.

Edelgard tentatively swung her legs over the edge of the bed, a contrast to the haste in which she had awoken the previous morning. As her feet met the ground beneath her, a spike of pure agony ran up the side of her torso. It felt as though pure fire was arcing through Edelgard’s body, burning through her skin and nerves. As she fell to the ground in pain, she caught a glimpse of a sparkling blue light emanating from the end of her instructor’s baton. It seemed that she had not gotten out of bed quick enough for Ochs’ liking, the woman taking to punish her for her lack of haste.

“Edelgard! Are you okay?” Dimitri called out, worried. His own instructor, the orange haired giant of a man, activated his own baton, the arcing blue light sparking like a coiled viper. Dimitri flinched back in fear at the prospect of being punished by the instrument.

As Edelgard clutched her aching side on the floor, her instructor stood over her once again, her eyes burning with barely concealed rage. “When I give you an order, trainee, you follow it! Immediately!” She reached down and grabbed Edelgard by her bicep, her grip deathly tight, sure to leave a bruise. She pulled her up onto her feet in one harsh pull and let go of the girl’s arm. Edelgard quickly grasped her arm where Ochs had grabbed it, rubbing it up and down in an attempt to soothe the pain. Ochs brought up the baton once more, jabbing it into Edelgard’s chest but not activating the stun. “Now get in formation. Or it’ll be five laps around the complex.”

Edelgard moved to join the line that the other children had formed into, still rubbing her aching arm, with Dimitri at her front and Khalid at her rear.

As they began marching, Dimitri turned his head to look at her with an expression of worry. “Are you okay Edelgard?” He asked, his eyes glancing down at her arm, the area that had been grabbed already turning a dark red.

Edelgard returned his expression with a pained smile, in an attempt to allay his worries. “I’ll be okay. Nothing serious.”

Khalid piped up from behind. “You sure? Those sticks hurt like hell. And I didn’t even get the electricity.” His hand came up to gently rub at his ribs where his instructor ‘Nader’ had struck him, the flesh still tender.

Edelgard nodded, answering. “Like I said, nothing serious. I’ll be ok in a sec.” She knew that was a lie, but she didn’t want others worrying about her wellbeing, hating the very idea of being a burden on anyone. Khalid didn’t seem convinced, his eyes alight with worry and doubt, but he relented after a moment.

Instead of the amphitheatre that they had been led to the previous morning, the children were taken to the centre of the complex where they had done yesterday’s exercise. Chief Mendez was already there, his expression neutral and his gaze hard. Major Eisner stood a few paces behind him, his arms crossed, almost as though he were annoyed.

“Trainees! Today we begin with the same exercise routine as yesterday. Jumping jacks! Count off to one-hundred.” Said Mendez. A number of the children groaned at that, their bodies still aching due to the training the day before, but all moved into formation and began their exercises. For the next hour, they performed the same exercises from the previous day, the exertion placed on their young bodies almost too much for them to take by the end of the routine. After the calisthenics routine was completed and they had a respite for water, they were forced to run the several mile-long path that had taken them to Déjà’s classroom. Once they had made it to the classroom building, they were shepherded inside by their handlers and made to sit down in the room that contained the holographic projectors for Déjà.

Soon after the children were settled down in the classroom, their handlers filed into a door at the back of the room, coming back out after a few moments. They were carrying trays of the dry crackers and cartons of milk, just as they had yesterday. The trainees eagerly tore into their breakfast, especially those who had been denied the chance for food the night before. Once again, the crackers and milk proved to be lacking in sufficient nutrition, the ache in their stomachs refusing to be quelled. _At least I get to eat them all this time._ Thought Edelgard, looking at John on her left. He met her eyes and gave a bashful smile; an assurance that he would quash any urges to steal.

As they finished their food, the hologram projectors in the ceiling flared to life, their mechanical arms shifting to point at the floor. Blue light shot from the projector cones, forming the avatar of their AI teacher. Déjà, clad in a toga and haloed by blue light, smiled softly at her class as she finished forming before them. “Greetings trainees. I hope this morning’s calisthenics were not too taxing?” She asked with a slight smirk. The children groaned at her teasing, some surprised that the artificial construct could even have a sense of humour. “Now then, let us get on with today’s lesson.” The holo-table behind her turned on and displayed a 3D landscape. A forest blanketed in a thick layer of snow, with a single quadrupedal creature standing in the clearing, feasting on a patch of grass that peaked out of the snow covering the area. “Look trainees. This is a deer, a doe to be specific, the female of the species. It is an animal indigenous to Earth, usually living in woodland areas.” As the children watched the animal graze, fascinated by the animal as none of them had ever been to Earth in their lives, they saw another four-legged animal creep out from the underbrush, hidden by a tree and nigh invisible to the grazing herbivore. “This is a wolf, a predator species also indigenous to Earth. The deer is prey to the wolf, a source of food.” As she explained the details of the animal, more wolves joined the one already displayed on the hologram. “Wolves live in packs, having evolved to work together to ensure survival.” Déjà gestured to the holo-table. “Watch as they encroach on their prey.”

The trainees were enraptured by watching the animals creep towards the deer, their bodies low to the ground, preparing for the kill.. “The deer is completely oblivious to its approaching demise. Any moment now, the wolves will spring their trap.” As soon as Déjà finished speaking, a wolf broke through the treeline and dashed forward, right at the deer. The deer’s head snapped up at the disturbance and quickly caught sight of the predator sprinting right at it. Its legs sprang into action, galloping wildly away from the wolf. Unfortunately, the deer had ran right into the trap that the wolves had set. Two more of the predators emerged from the treeline directly in front of the soon-to-be-dead doe, the deer incapable of turning fast enough. Gaping maws and gnashing fangs tore into the deer’s flesh, killing it with a bite to the throat.

In contrast to the cheers that had rung out from the children when they watched the warriors of Sparta the day before, there was dead silence as they watched the rest of the pack descend upon the corpse of the doe. Many of them, including Edelgard, fell sick at the sight of the animal’s flesh being torn open and devoured. Four of them even vomited at the sight on the holo-table before them, some of the instructors grimaced at the sight of the vomit but gathered paper towels to clean it up, nonetheless.

Déjà turned back to the class. “As you can see.” She spoke, sternly. “The wolves only hunted their meal successfully due to the pack working together. If just one wolf were to hunt, it would likely not succeed. Its prey would be too perceptive and would be able to outrun it. But by working together, the pack was able to herd the deer into the kill zone. The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. I believe Major Eisner has already taught you this sentiment?” Her eyes rested on John, clearly alluding to his failure to work with the rest of his team on the obstacle course. Déjà continued. “That will be all from me today trainees. However, class is not yet over.” The children were a little confused at that, not knowing who else would teach them.

The door to the classroom opened and a woman walked in, the tails of her white lab coat billowing behind her. Her hair, a vibrant shade of olive green, was done up in a messy ponytail; her large, expressive eyes shining the same shade. She strode to the holo-table where the form of Déjà was now fading away from view. The woman turned to the children with a sad smile. She seemed almost… guilty?

“Good morning children. I will be teaching you biology today.” Her voice was soft and full of warmth. A welcome change from the harshness of Chief Mendez or the cold, emotionless speech of Déjà. “My name is Sitri.”

At that, one of the instructors walked towards her, anger in his step. He whispered something to her that the children couldn’t hear, but they could see her face fall slightly, clearly disappointed by whatever the man had said. “Disregard what I said last, trainees. You are to call me Doctor Eisner or simply, Doctor.” Clearly, the instructors intended this to be a lesson in rank and hierarchy. To make the children unable to connect to anyone but their peers, as they would view their trainers and teachers as above them.

Despite the brevity of Déjà’s lesson, Doctor Eisner’s lesson lasted several hours. She covered several topics on basic biology, teaching them content that should have been years above them in school. They learned of the human body; its muscle groups, organs and processes. How the cells in all living things worked and their structure. And of animals, their genetics, habitats and kingdoms. By the end of it, even the most studious children like Edelgard and Lysithea found their brains to be thoroughly fried. But all of them were grateful for the presence of Doctor Eisner. Even though the woman was restricted in how she could interact with them, she made the effort to explain anything that they found confusing or did not understand. She proved to be a much better teacher than any of them had had before, even the more educated and privileged among them sharing this sentiment.

“And that is the end of class for today, trainees. You’ve all done really well. Next session we shall go over the basics of physics and higher-grade mathematics.” A few of the instructors looked annoyed at her praising them, most likely because their orders dictated that they be tough on the children, but they held their tongues. A murmur of annoyance swept over the children at hearing they would have to do maths, but they were silenced by their trainers getting them up out of their seats.

Once they had made it outside the building, they were led to the courtyard and made to stand in their set formations. 3 rows of 25 children all stood in a line before Chief Mendez, with Edelgard stood by those she had worked alongside on the obstacle course yesterday: Dimitri, Lysithea, Khalid and Marianne, as well as the three others she had sat at dinner with: Kurt, Jorge and Daisy. They all snapped to attention when Mendez began to speak.

“Trainees, next you will undertake another obstacle course, different from the playground.” He spoke, stern and with authority. “We like to call this one ‘The Grinder’.” A few of the children felt a little uneasy at the rather sinister name, he noticed their apprehension but continued, nonetheless. “But first, another run. Form up and move out!”

Edelgard wasn’t sure how much more her body could take. The training from this morning combined with the muscle fatigue from yesterday and the unfulfilling meals all serving to make her feel weak and lightheaded, but she continued regardless. She refused to show weakness or vulnerability to the adults around her. She looked at Dimitri, his face showing the same fatigue as hers. He raised his gaze to meet hers and sent a nod her way, with her returning it. A silent agreement to keep moving forward, no matter what. To not give up just yet.

The run turned out to be shorter than they expected, only about a mile and a half. The path they had taken leading them to the furthest edge of the complex, the only thing stopping them from getting out was a chain link fence, with barbed wire sat atop it. Just before them was what seemed to a lake of mud, dotted with barbed wire lines, wooden climbing walls and rope bridges.

“Trainees, what you see before you is The Grinder. This will be a test of your own physical endurance and abilities. The objective is to cross all obstacles in your way. You will each go one by one. The trainee with the slowest time will be made to run five laps around the complex _and_ go without dinner.” He locked eyes with Edelgard as he continued. “Furthermore, any trainee caught giving the loser their dinner will summarily be punished the next day, with 10 laps around the complex.” The children looked amongst themselves, shocked that he knew about the sharing of their food the night before. Edelgard caught sight of John looking glancing her way, with an apologetic and guilty look upon his face, feeling that it was his fault that Mendez knew about Edelgard and the other’s act of kindness.

“Now, trainees. Line up at the start of the course. Single file.” The children did as they were told and before long all 75 of them were stood in a single line, waiting for their orders to begin the course. Edelgard stood in line between Marianne and Daisy; the former at her back and the latter in front of her. “Number 092, you’re up first.” Mendez called out. A tall and lean boy with dark skin, Jerome-092, broke from the front of the line to begin the obstacle course. The first obstacle in his way was a waist high field of barbed wire, just above the mud-covered ground. He barely hesitated before dropping onto his belly, crawling under the barbed wire to get across, mud splashing up into the air and onto him as he did so. Once he had made it across the first obstacle, Mendez called up the second person in line to begin the course. One by one, the children were called up, each dropping into the mud with differing levels of hesitation.

After around 30 children were called up, Daisy was the next in line, waiting for the boy in front of her to cross the barbed wire. Once he had done so, Mendez called out to her. “Number 023, you’re up.” She quickly dashed forward, eager to get a good enough time so as not to be punished. Edelgard anxiety grew as she watched Daisy quickly crawl under the barbed wire, knowing that once she passed it, she would have to begin the course herself. Mendez turned his head to look at Edelgard as Daisy made it past the first part of The Grinder. “Your turn, number 020, get moving.”

At that, Edelgard sprang forward, sliding onto her stomach and began crawling under the wire. The mud on the ground beneath her was freezing cold and stuck to her clothes, caking them in brown. As she progressed, the splash of the mud coated practically the entirety of her body. _This is absolutely disgusting. Ugh, I’m definitely gonna need a shower after this._ Thought Edelgard, as she finally made it to a part of the field where the barbed wire above her ran out. She quickly got to her feet and glanced behind her, seeing that Marianne was now getting to her stomach in order to crawl under the wire just as she had. She turned back to the rest of the field before her, moving forward to finish her next obstacle. The next thing she had to surpass turned out to be a rope climb, the knotted cord affixed to a wooden platform that hung down 15 feet or so. Edelgard could see that once she got to the top of the rope, she would have to swing over to platform that was adjacent to it, the rope not close enough to simply step off it.

She reached out for it and grabbed hold, wrapping her legs around the rope, so they wouldn’t swing wildly and began her ascent. Edelgard grunted in exertion as she pulled herself, her arms straining to pull against her own body weight. Normally something that would have been no issue, but the ache that still wracked her muscles and the hunger served to make her weaker. She reached the top in short order and began to swing her body weight side to side, building momentum to facilitate her jump across to the platform. _Come on. Just a little more._ She thought as her momentum slowly became enough to get her across. She readied to jump, like a coiled spring, as the rope brought her close enough; She leaped across, landing on all fours. Looking forward at the next obstacle, she could see what looked to be a wooden wall that sloped up and back down again at the other side, in the shape of a triangle. The wall was dotted with climbing holds of differing shapes and sizes, it seemed that she would have to climb around 30 feet of slope on each side to complete this part of the course.

Edelgard strode over to the sloped wall and set her hands on two of the climbing holds, her feet following suit. This was a little easier to climb than the rope, as she was able to use her whole body to lift herself up. She looked down at the ground as she edged closer to the top of the slope. _Still a longer fall though._ She thought. It would probably not be fatal but would cause serious injury if she were to fall from the top of the wall. She made it to the top in short order, hooking her legs over to begin the descent on the other side of the wooden wall. The next part after the climbing wall was a slim bridge made of wooden slats, which was still swaying from the force of Daisy running over it.

_And of course, there’s no railing._ Edelgard thought, noticing that there was no protection from falling into the pool of muddy water below, if someone were to trip from the bridge swaying. Fortunately, Edelgard had no qualms about heights and made it across in short order. The next part of The Grinder seemed to be the last, as she could see a finishing line on the ground a number of meters away. Edelgard saw no way to get down below, apart from the pool of water below her. It seemed that the final test was a leap of faith, to take the 15 feet plunge into the murky water.

Edelgard prepared to jump, psyching herself up to make the leap. But her attention was grabbed by the cry that came from behind her. “Ah! Edelgard, help!” She turned to see who had called for her. It was Marianne, kneeling on all fours in the centre of the bridge, her chocolate-coloured eyes filled with apprehension and fear. “I’m scared of heights! I don’t want to fall. Help!” She cried once more as she gripped the edges of the bridge deathly tight, the bridge swaying forcefully.

Edelgard looked back at the pool of water below. She could finish the obstacle course and ensure herself dinner for the night, but leaving Marianne on her own and resigning her to the punishment for being the slowest… Or she could go back and help her, risking her own time in the process. Edelgard barely considered the former option before making up her mind, running back to the bridge to help Marianne. She tentatively stepped on the bridge so as not to make it sway any more and knelt down to extend her arm toward Marianne. “Take my hand, Marianne, I’ll get you across.” She called to the frightened girl.

Marianne looked at her as she would a saviour, smiling as much as she could, given her phobia. “Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou. Please don’t let me fall.” She cried.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

Marianne slowly reached her hand out to grasp Edelgard’s, almost crushing her hand with how tight the grip was. Edelgard gently guided her over, taking care to lessen the swaying of the bridge. “Come on, I’ve got you, don’t worry.” Edelgard said softly, easing Marianne over to the other side of the bridge. Marianne finally crossed the threshold, safely making it over to the other side, still crushing Edelgard’s hand.

Marianne noticed her death grip on Edelgard’s hand and quickly let go. “I’m so sorry.” She said, apologetic.

Edelgard rubbed her hand to soothe the slight sting. “No worries, Marianne. Come on, you go first.” She said, gesturing to the edge of the platform that would require the leap of faith into the water. Marianne nodded and stepped over to the edge, her face quickly forming into a look of horror once again. _Ahhh, more heights._ Thought Edelgard.

Marianne looked back at her. “I can’t do it, Edelgard. Why is it always heights?!” She screamed almost hysterically.

Edelgard was about to give her more words of encouragement, but before she could, another trainee brushed past her. It was Lysithea, having been the one in line after Marianne, she looked annoyed. She stomped over to the blue haired girl and scolded her. “Come on you scaredy-cat! Just get in the water!” What happened next shocked both Edelgard and Marianne, the latter especially. Lysithea grasped Marianne’s shoulder and turned her around to face the drop in front of her… And shoved her right in.

The bluenette screamed as she plunged into the pool below, waving her arms wildly as she plummeted. Lysithea followed her right after. Edelgard recovered from the shock of Lysithea’s sudden action, stepping toward the edge… and dropped. The water below was absolutely freezing, the mud within serving to make her virtually blind while she was under. She quickly swam up to the surface, breaching the water line and spotted the finish line where her instructor stood, the crimson haired woman holding a stopwatch in her hand. Edelgard climbed out of the water just after Marianne and Lysithea had, the former looking royally pissed off.

Edelgard’s instructor clicked the stopwatch as she crossed the finish line, her face a mixture of both anger and disappointment, her regular expression. Ochs payed no mind to her as she joined the formation of the other wet and muddy kids. Over the next 45 minutes, more and more of the trainees made the leap of faith into the freezing water and crossed the finish line. Soon all 75 of them were in formation, their teeth chattering and faces unrecognisable under all the mud.

Mendez stepped out in front of them, holding a data-pad in one hand, presumably holding the record of their times. “Well done, trainees. You’ve all succeeded in completing The Grinder.” He looked up from the data-pad to look over all of them, his grey eyes scanning their faces and peering into them. “Unfortunately, one of you finished with a time slower than the rest of your peers. This trainee will go without dinner tonight and will be made to run five additional laps around the complex.”

The children looked among themselves, some filled with confidence that it would not be any of them, while others looked worried that they would be the one with the slowest time. Mendez took breath, then spoke.

“The trainee with the slowest time… was number 020.”

Edelgard felt like she had just been slapped in the face, all her effort was for naught in the end. She saw Marianne out the corner of her eye, letting out a gasp and then stepping out of formation to walk over to Mendez. “Sir! She was just trying to help me. Please don’t punish her. It’s my fault!” She cried out, her eyes growing wet with tears.

Marianne’s instructor made to grab hold of her, presumably to use her stun baton for punishment, but was stopped by Mendez bringing his hand up as a signal to hold. Mendez looked down at Marianne, his face listless. “Number 071, it is good that you recognise your own failure as the reason for your teammate’s punishment. But it won’t change the fact that she was the slowest. You have to know that there will be consequences for hesitation, especially on the field.”

Marianne finally let her tears stream down her face. “But she- “

Mendez cut her off before she could object. “Enough 071, get back in formation.” He gave a nod to Marianne’s instructor, the woman coming over and grabbing the crying girl’s arm and leading her back to the line, right next to Edelgard.

“I’m so sorry Edelgard.” The bluenette said, tearfully. “It’s all my fault. If you hadn’t helped me, you- “

Edelgard shook her head softly at Marianne’s words. “Don’t apologise Marianne. You needed help and if I had to make that choice again, I’d help you in a heartbeat.” She reassured the girl. While she was still upset that she would have to go without food for the night, in addition to the five extra laps of running, she knew that she couldn’t have just left Marianne. She believed that she had made the right choice.

They began the mile and a half march back to the centre of the base, towards the dining hall. As they came closer to the building, Edelgard saw Mendez nod to her instructor, the woman grasping her shoulder and pulling her out of the line. Marianne, Dimitri, Khalid and Lysithea all looked her way, Marianne mouthing. “I’m Sorry.” The others sent a combination and of thumbs-ups and reassuring nods, hoping that she would have the strength to overcome what came next.

Once all the other children were led inside to the dining hall, Mendez walked over to her. “Number 020, do you understand why you were the slowest?” He calmly asked her.

Edelgard looked up into his eyes, refusing to back down. “Yes sir. My teammate needed help and I was the only one able to give it.”

Mendez quirked his brow. “The Grinder was not a team-based exercise, trainee. Your only goal was to make it through as fast as possible.”

“I understand, Sir. But I couldn’t just leave Marianne behind.”

“If the same thing were to happen again, if 071 or any one of your fellow trainees needed your help, would you make the same choice?” He asked her, softly, or at least softer than she had heard him speak previously.

She looked him dead in the eyes before answering. “Yes, yes I would.”

He actually cracked a small smile at that, seemingly pleased at her answer. “Good. You made the right choice, 020.” He motioned his hand over to the paved roads that led all around the complex. “Now get running, trainee. Reach gets awful cold at night.”

That was the first anyone had ever mentioned the name of the planet they were on. Reach. She had heard of it before. Humanity’s second crown jewel, second only to Earth itself. She nodded dumbly at his orders, already feeling the weakness getting to her. “Yessir.” She said quietly.

He looked over to her instructor. “Monica. Make sure she completes all five laps.” He paused before continuing. “And no stun baton. Not tonight.”

Monica’s crimson eyes flashed in annoyance, but she wouldn’t dare disobey a direct order from an officer. “Yes sir.” She looked back down at Edelgard. “Come on, _Edel_. Get running.” She sneered.

The five laps were absolute torture on Edelgard’s already sore body. Her leg muscles were screaming in pain, her lungs doing the same. Her heart thundered in her chest, pushing itself to keep up with her body’s demands. She felt as though she could pass out at any minute, her exhaustion almost overwhelming. Her instructor, Monica, kept watching her like a hawk. Waiting for any slip up or mistake from Edelgard. Even though she had been ordered not to use her stun baton, Edelgard thought that she would probably ignore those orders.

After what felt like hours, all five laps were finished. Edelgard dropped to her knees and vomited, the exertion wracking her body with pain. She attempted to stand up, but quickly dropped back down, her legs feeling as though they had turned to jelly.

Monica sighed, walking over to Edelgard, and brandished her baton. Edelgard saw it out the corner of her eye and looked up at the woman standing over her. “Get up, brat.” Sneered Monica, her baton poised to strike.

Edelgard’s eyes widened in shock, looking back and fore between the woman’s face and the baton. “But the chief said-“ She began, before being cut off by the instructor.

“The chief isn’t here now. He’s probably inside with that Halsey. He can’t protect you now, not from me.” She snarled, raising the weapon up in the air. She was going to forgo the shock function and simply use it a blunt object.

Suddenly, a large hand grasped Monica’s wrist before she could bring the weapon down. She and Edelgard both snapped their heads over to see who had stopped the punishment. It was Major Eisner; The look upon his face was one of barely concealed rage. Monica froze as she realised who it was, her grip going limp and dropping the baton. She looked genuinely afraid of the man. “M-M-Major. I was only going to-“ She managed to stutter out.

Jeralt cut her off before she could finish. “It looked like you were about to strike the trainee, after you were explicitly told not to. Have I got that right?” He said slowly, a threat tinging his voice.

Monica spluttered, her composure completely breaking down. “N-no! I wasn’t g-going to. I swear Sir!” It was rather amusing to Edelgard, seeing the woman knocked down a peg, her fear of the Major as clear as day.

Jeralt nodded at Edelgard. “Go ahead kid. Get back to the barracks.” He turned to look back at the woman he held in his grasp. “And you and I are going to go see the Chief. Aren’t we?” Monica quickly nodded her head.

Edelgard didn’t stick around long after that. Managing to get to her feet and begin walking back to the barracks. She made it back as the others were getting undressed for their showers. The door shutting behind her caught the attention of the others in the barracks. Marianne dashed over to her immediately, wrapping her up in a hug. “Edelgard, you’re okay!” She pulled back from the hug, still grasping her by the arms. “I’m so so so sorry! It’s all my fault.” Cried Marianne, her face streaked with already shed tears.

Edelgard smiled to reassure her, placing her hands on the other girl’s shoulders. “It’s alright, Marianne. The fault was mine. It was my decision and I would make it again. Gladly.” She said, softly, to calm the girl down. She looked behind the girl, seeing that Lysithea, Khalid and Dimitri were making their way over to them.

“Hey, Edelgard, you good?” Asked Khalid. His tone was casual, as if he weren’t worried at all. His face betrayed his true feelings, an expression of genuine unease gracing his features.

“You look like you’re about to pass out.” Stated Lysithea, very matter-of-factly. The girl hadn’t shown much in the way of emotion or compassion to her fellow trainees, but Edelgard felt she should be thankful that the girl at least had the mind to come over and check on her.

Dimitri spoke next. “We were worried about you. Are you ok?” He, along with Marianne, who had now released Edelgard from her grip and moved back, had shown the most outward worry for her wellbeing.

Edelgard gave them all a weak smile, grateful for them checking on her. “I’m alright, just need a shower and some sleep.” She said with a light laugh.

Marianne smiled right back. “Well, before you do, we have something for you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out something covered in a napkin, the other three followed her lead and did the same.

“We saved these for you… from our dinner.” Said Dimitri, offering the wrapped-up food to Edelgard.

She gently took it from his hands and unwrapped it. Revealing a small roll of bread. She looked up from the food in her hands into Dimitri’s eyes. “I can’t take this. You know what the chief said.” She spoke with concern. She couldn’t allow others to be punished for her sake.

Khalid shook his hand, waving away her concerns. “Don’t you worry about us. You helped out the others last night. Its only right that you should get the same.”

Marianne spoke up next. “Yeah! It’s my fault that you went without dinner tonight--“ Edelgard moved to cut her off. “--and don’t you dare say it wasn’t.” She pointed her finger, accusingly, at her.

Edelgard put her hands up at that, conceding the point to Marianne. She looked over each of them. They had been strangers to each other only yesterday. But now the four before her were putting themselves at risk, and for what? She needed to know why. “Why are you doing this for me? We hardly know each other.”

“Because if we are going to be stuck here. Then I think its best we stick together.” Said Dimitri. Marianne and Khalid nodded their agreement.

Edelgard looked at Lysithea, the short girl stood with her arms crossed, looking unimpressed. “And what about you Lysithea?” She asked.

Lysithea rolled her eyes, the pink orbs sparkling with annoyance. “I suppose you guys are better than nothing.” She uncrossed her arms to point her finger, sweeping over the other four. “But don’t you dare slow me down.”

“Huh, I think you’ll be the one needing to keep up with us, short stuff.” Khalid teased, his lips turning up into a sly grin.

Edelgard couldn’t help but giggle at the look on Lysithea’s face. A cross between offense and though she had just been slapped. “I’ll show you short, you twerp!” She exclaimed.

Marianne put her hand on the shorter girl’s shoulder. “Ok, ok, calm down Lysithea. He didn’t mean anything by it.” She turned her head to look at Khalid. “Did he?”

Khalid shrugged; a grin still plastered on his face. “Who knows?”

Dimitri face palmed at that. “Maybe this wasn’t the best idea after all.” He sighed.

Edelgard smiled. Even though, deep down, she knew that she would never see her family again. She though that, perhaps, this place becoming her new home wouldn’t be so bad. If only because of the other children around her in the exact same situation. Maybe she could grow to trust these other kids.

Perhaps they could even become… family?

* * *

_SIX MONTHS LATER_

Edelgard panted hard as she ran. It was currently the 14th lap of the complex, that day. She glanced to her right. Khalid and Marianne ran alongside her, their own breathing heavy and laboured. A glance to her left confirmed the same for Dimitri and Lysithea. They crossed the line before them, in unison. Another lap down, one more to go.

“Aghh, I hate these runs. They always take forever.” Complained Khalid. He, like all of them, was completely drenched in sweat from the exercise.

“Quit whining and they don’t take as long.” Lysithea shot back, taking a quick breath between each word.

“Quit whining about my whining, shorty.” He said, jokingly.

“Come on you two, stop arguing and focus on the run.” Interjected Marianne. Always the voice of reason.

Dimitri shook his head in exasperation and turned his head to face Edelgard. “Always the same with these two.”

Edelgard rolled her eyes amusedly at their antics. “Lysithea is just cranky.” She said, just loud enough for Lysithea to hear. “She’ll be ok after breakfast.”

“I’ll show you cranky Edelgard!” Lysithea shouted back.

“I think you already are.” Dimitri teased, laughing lightly at her.

Marianne shook her head and sighed. “Why do I even try?” She said in exasperation.

Edelgard let out a breathy laugh at that. For the rest of the remaining lap, Khalid and Lysithea continued their bickering, with Marianne having given up on getting them to stop. They crossed the finish line in short order, finally getting their first break of the day. They made their way over to the side of the track where they grabbed refreshments, 2 litres of water and a protein bar. It wasn’t much but anything was good after fifteen laps around the base.

Edelgard and her teammates sat down on the benches placed next to the track, eagerly gulping down the water provided to them. She watched as the other Spartan teams made their way around the track, some having only just started the run and others being partway through, as her team were the first to begin.

Waiting for the other teams to be done gave Edelgard ample time to think, mostly about how far herself and the other Spartans had come in the last few months. The daily, rigorous exercise combined with their diets had resulted in them becoming extremely athletic. Able to run several miles without pause and lift objects that no-one their age should have been able to. Doctor Halsey had called them the ‘cream of the crop’ when it came to their genetics, practically perfect in every way. And it would seem that she was correct.

It wasn’t just their physical attributes that made them perfect in Halsey’s eyes either. Their education had shaped their minds to be the some of the best and brightest that humanity had ever seen. Even at such a young age, their academic ability was phenomenal, years above what it would have been if they had been taught in even the best academies. They knew topics that normally would have been taught in their teens. Mathematics such as trigonometry, algebra and calculus. As well as other subjects like physics, biology and chemistry. The combination of Déjà and Doctor Eisner teaching them had been the greatest gift for their education, however. The efficacy of the AI and the caring yet thorough approach of the doctor proved to be the just the combination the children needed to engage with the material.

Edelgard brought her hand up rub at her scalp, feeling the light stubble that her hair had become. Gone were her light-brown tresses, replaced by a simple military buzz cut. Six months ago, on the fifth day of being on the base, herself and the other trainees were brought outside immediately after being awoken. There, in the courtyard were a row of chairs with some of their instructors sat behind them, holding hair clippers. In groups of five, the children were made to sit down in the chairs where the instructors would then proceed cut off all the hair atop the children’s heads. Many of them fought back at the prospect. Khalid and Cal-141 both required an instructor to hold them down as their heads were shaved. Whilst Marianne and another girl, Kelly-087, were far more vicious in their retaliation. With the former accidentally breaking the wrist of one of the men holding the clippers and the latter biting the man attempting to cut her hair, disarming of him of his instrument and requiring three of the trainers to hold her down. Before long, however, all of them were left with naught but stubble on their heads.

The loss of her long brunette locks came with a heart-breaking thought. No longer would her sisters be able to style and braid her hair. Or tie it up with her signature purple ribbons. She couldn’t even remember the last time that they had done so. Truth be told, she could hardly even remember her family. Day by day, their faces became harder to recognise in her mind. That was a thought that completely terrified her. The thought of forgetting her family. Her loving father. Her overprotective brothers and sisters. At this point she couldn’t even recall the name of her best friend. The only feature she could remember was a head of light orange hair, nothing more.

A hand upon her shoulder shook her out of her reverie. She turned to see that it was Khalid, a concerned look upon his face. “You good, Edelgard?” He asked softly.

She gave him a light smile in return. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“About what?” He asked, curiously.

“Nothing important.” He quirked his brow at her. Conveying that he clearly didn’t believe that. Something that Edelgard and the others had come to learn over the last six months, was that Khalid had an extremely curious nature. If there was something that he didn’t understand, he would dedicate himself to figuring everything out and unlocking all the secrets that something could offer him. What made this annoying to the other Spartans was that he had developed the uncanny ability to know if someone wasn’t telling him the truth. Fortunately for them, he had deigned to use it only to help them, such as if one of the other Spartans were feeling down and they didn’t want others to know. Khalid and Jorge had become a source of levity for the Spartans, always telling jokes and playing the occasional prank on their instructors, never failing to raise their spirits even on the hardest of days.

Edelgard sighed. “It’s just… I was thinking about how long we’ve been here. How far we’ve come. That’s all.”

Khalid looked down with a sad smile. “You can tell me the truth, Edelgard.” He said kindly.

She didn’t give him a response. She wanted to, but she was afraid. Afraid that if she spoke about her fears of forgetting her family, they would become true. She knew that she could never escape this place and go back to her old life. But if she lost her memories, the person she had been before being stolen away to this place would disappear entirely. Would the bright, young girl with a brilliant spark of life even exist after that? Merely the thought of it terrified her.

Khalid waited patiently for an answer, knowing that whatever she was thinking about was weighing heavily on her and thus would be hard to talk about. They both watched as more and more of the other Spartan teams finished their runs and joined them at the side of the track, all scrambling to grab their water bottles for a chance to rehydrate after the rigorous exercise.

“You know—” He began, getting Edelgard’s attention. She turned her head towards him to hear what he had to say. “—I miss home too. Almyra wasn’t the greatest place, basically just a ton of farms. Hot as hell too, like ‘sunburn after 10 minutes’ hot. But it was home.”

“And… your family? Do you miss them?” She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“I miss my mom, that’s for sure.” The thought of the few scattered memories he had of his mother brought a smile to his face. “But I’m struggling to remember her, what she looked like, the sound of her voice. The only thing I can think of is… the perfume she used to wear. Weird right? The only thing I can remember is how she smelled.” If he focused hard enough, he could almost smell the feint scent of lilac and vanilla, as though she were right there next to him. It seemed that Edelgard wasn’t the only one struggling with fears of forgetting their life.

“It’s not weird.” She reassured him. “The one thing I remember about my sisters is the feel of their hands through my hair. They always loved to mess with it. But, like you, I can’t remember what they look like.” She brought her hand up to her shorn hair once more, missing her longer locks more than ever. “Do you have any other family?” She asked, deciding to shift the focus back to Khalid.

“No brothers or sisters like you, unfortunately. And my dad…” He trailed off after mentioning his father, clearly bothered by whatever thought came to him. “Well, he was a jerk. That I _can_ remember. The only thing that comes to mind about him is…” He trailed off once more, but brought his hand up to rub his arm, as though it were causing him pain. That told Edelgard more than enough about Khalid’s father.

“If you had a chance to go back. Would you take it?” She asked in a low whisper. The unspoken question that had been on several of the Spartans’ minds. Reach had become home to many of them, some even preferring the new lives given to them by the people who had kidnapped them, with only a select few wanting to return to their old lives. The indoctrination devised by Doctor Halsey seemingly very effective against many of the children.

Khalid turned to her. “Yes. Yes, I would.” He said, resolute.

Edelgard turned to face toward the field, watching the final team finish their run and come to the side of the track to re-hydrate and rest. “Good.” She said, her gaze focused on her own handler, Monica Ochs. “I have a plan.”

* * *

Edelgard lay awake in her bunk, waiting until the hands on the clock that hung on the wall struck midnight. Because when it did, Khalid, Dimitri, Lysithea, Marianne and herself would attempt to escape this place and, hopefully, return to their homes.

The plan was simple enough. Get out of the barracks, evade any soldiers on patrol, get off the base and find the nearest population centre or police station. Two of her fellow Spartans, Jai-006 and Adriana-111, known for giving their handlers constant headaches with their escape attempts, had attempted it themselves just a month prior. It nearly worked too, the only obstacle they couldn’t surpass was a single locked gate, with the only way to unlock it being a key card that only the personnel on the base had access to. A key card that Edelgard held within her grasp.

She had taken it from her instructor earlier that day, just after dinner. She had made a show of backtalking and insulting Monica, the crimson haired woman swiftly descending on Edelgard with a blow to the girl’s stomach, from her baton. As Edelgard fell to her knees, feigning agony, she had wrapped her arms around the woman’s waist. Monica then quickly ripped the girl’s arms from around her and threw her to the ground. In her anger, however, she failed to notice that Edelgard had unclipped her key card from her belt.

She waited and waited, seemingly forever, for the intended time. Her nerves nearly overwhelming her. They were actually going to do it; they were going to escape from this place and return home. Edelgard and the others would finally see their families again, after six months. She wondered what the reception would be from her own family. Would she be expected? Had they been searching for her? She only knew one thing for sure. She would never leave home again after this.

Finally, both hands of the clock faced north. It was time. Edelgard, as quietly as she could, uncovered herself from underneath her blanket and stepped out of bed. She clutched the key card to her chest as she crept over to Khalid’s bed, and reached out to gently shake him awake. His eyes snapped open at her touch, the verdant green orbs quickly locking onto her own lilac pair. “Edelgard. Is it time?” He asked, in a soft whisper, his eyes shone with excitement. She gave him a light smile and nodded, jerking her head over to where Marianne and Lysithea both slept, telling him to wake them up. He nodded in return and gently got out of his bunk to do as he was told.

Edelgard then turned on her heel and walked over to the other side of her bed, where Dimitri slept. As she stepped closer, his eyes suddenly snapped open, intently staring at her approaching. It seems she wasn’t the only one lying in wait, unable to sleep. He smiled and nodded at her, just as Khalid had and, equally as quiet, got out of bed. She looked back over to that Khalid had woken both Marianne and Lysithea, the girls both rubbing their eyes from having been awoken so deep into their sleep. After everyone had fully woken up, they all convened at the door to the barracks and began their escape.

The first thing that hit them when they stepped outside, was Reach’s freezing cold night-time air. The chill went straight through their simple tank tops and shorts, causing them to clutch their arms tight against their bodies in an effort to conserve some semblance of warmth. The group of five crept across the grounds of the base, taking great care to watch out for any passing soldiers who would try to stop their escape attempt. They made their way over to one of the buildings and pressed themselves against its outer wall. Edelgard poked her head around it and gasped as she saw their first potential problem. Stood about 15 feet in front of them, were two guards, presumably on break from their patrol as they were leaning against their jeep smoking cigarettes. They were too deep in their conversation to notice the slight noise that Edelgard had made as she quickly retracted her head back behind the wall.

“What’s the matter?” Asked Lysithea.

“Two guards. We’ll have to wait for them to leave before we can move.” She explained to them.

“They’ll have to restart their patrol soon; we go when they start their jeep.” Dimitri piped up. They all nodded at that, with Edelgard peeking around the corner once more to make sure that neither of the guards would come and discover them.

They waited in silence for the guards to go on patrol again. Edelgard was too far away to hear what the two men were talking about clearly, only hearing snippets of their conversation. The only things she could make out was about them both thinking that their current patrol shift was ‘bullshit’ and whoever they thought was the ‘hottest chick on base’ was. _Ugh. Pigs._ Thought Edelgard as she continued watching them for any movement. She was suddenly pulled away from her watch as she felt someone tap her on her shoulder. She turned to see that it was Marianne who had done so.

The bluenette looked down at her feet as she wrung her hands together, anxiously. “Edelgard.” She began. “I was wondering… what are we going to do about the others? We can’t just leave them here.” She spoke of the other Spartans. The other children that they had all trained, ate, slept and even bled alongside over the last six months. She was right, of course, they couldn’t just leave them to whatever fate awaited them.

Edelgard put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder in reassurance, squeezing gently. “Don’t worry about that, Marianne. When we find people on the outside, we’ll tell them all about this place. We’ll get the others out, I promise you.” She spoke with confidence. She fully believed that they would all get to leave this place.

Their conversation was interrupted by a noise from around the wall, the sound of an engine firing and coming to life. Edelgard quickly returned to her previous place and peered around the corner, seeing that the guards had both gotten in the jeep and had started back on their patrol. She turned her head back to the other four and jerked her head to the corner, telling them that it was safe to move. They all moved in unison, stepping across the grounds, coming across no further obstacles on their way as they made their way toward their freedom.

After more than 15 minutes of bobbing and weaving in between buildings in an effort to cover their escape attempt, they finally made their way to the final step to getting off this base and out into the free world. If they could get past the large metal gate, they could finally leave Reach and return to their families.

“Uhh, I think we may have a problem, guys.” Said Dimitri, looking at the gate. Edelgard and the others followed his gaze to see that, alas, a new problem had presented itself. Five soldiers stood before the gate, each of them holding a rifle in their hands. It would be impossible for them to get past the soldiers, they would be spotted instantly and apprehended. They needed a new plan of action.

_We’re going to need a diversion. Something to draw them away so we can slip past._ Thought Edelgard, as she wracked her mind for a plan. Over and over, she tried to think of something. Anything that would involve the lowest risk. She could only think of one, a sad smile coming to her face. She looked down at her feet, as something caught her eye. A single rock lay upon the grass, the only one around. _Perfect._ She though, bending down to pick up the stone. She turned back to her teammates. “I have a plan.” She said, grabbing their attention. “The only way to get the gate open without being caught is to get rid of those soldiers, and the only way to do that… is with a distraction.”

“What have you got in mind?” Asked Lysithea. “It’ll have to be something big to get them all to leave.”

“You’re right. It’ll have to be something very important to get them all to abandon the gate.” A smirk came to her face before she continued. “I think an escaped trainee should do the trick.”

Dimitri looked shocked at the idea. “Edelgard. You’re saying that one of us should be the distraction? How would we all escape then?” He asked in a panic, not wanting anyone to be left behind.

“It won’t be one of us.” Stated Marianne. “Will it, Edelgard?” She finished, looking Pointedly at Edelgard.

Edelgard nodded at that. “I’ll be the distraction. Once it’s clear, you guys will have to move quick. Please… let me do this.”

“No, that wasn’t part of the plan, Edelgard.” Said Khalid, looking more pissed off than the others had ever seen him. “We won’t leave you here. We can’t.” He finished, sounding defeated.

“It’ll be okay. Once you get out and tell people about this place, me and the others will get rescued.” She said, to reassure them. She fully believed in them, believed that they could get away from this place. She knew her trust would not be misplaced. She made her way over to Dimitri, and gently grasped his hand in both of hers. “They will have to follow you now, Dimitri. I know I can count on you.” She said as she placed her hand over the top of his, gently closing it, and then letting it go.

Dimitri looked down at his hand, opening it back up to see what she had given him. It was the key card. “Edelgard, no. We can find another way. We need you with us!” He exclaimed. He too was enraged at the prospect of leaving Edelgard behind.

“He’s right!” Marianne piped up. “We’ll find another way out. You don’t have to do this!” Tears collected in her warm, brown eyes.

Lysithea also chimed in, showing more dejection than the others had ever seen from the usually aloof girl. “Edelgard… please just come with us. You don’t have to risk yourself for us.”

“Yes, I do. You’re all important to me. I wouldn’t have made it through these last six months without your help and your friendship.” She gave them a warm smile. “Please. Get out of here and tell everyone you can find about this place. You can save every one of us.” She then, suddenly, turned on her heel and began to march towards the gate.

She was stopped in her tracks from a call, behind her. “No, it should be me.” She turned to see that it was Khalid that spoke. “You’re the best of us, Edelgard. If anyone is able to get us out and find a place where we can get help, it’s you. Queen doesn’t sacrifice itself for a pawn.”

“All the pieces go back in the same box when the game ends, Khalid.” Her lips curled up into a smirk. “Besides… I’m faster than you anyway.” She turned once more and sprang into a sprint before any of them could respond, running toward the gate.

She came into full view of the guards once she was about 20 feet away from their position, grabbing the immediate attention of two of them. One of them, a short and rather portly man, stepped forward. “Trainee.” He sternly said, clicking off the safety on his rifle. “What are you doing out of your bunk? If you don’t get back right now, you’ll get to know what a stun round to the chest feels like.”

“Sorry Sir, I just woke up to go the bathroom and got lost. Could you show me the way back to the barracks?” She said, as meek and innocent as she could pretend to be.

The man didn’t seem impressed. “You think that’s funny huh? I’ll show you what happens to you little shits when you disobey orders.”

_Clearly patience is not one of his strong suits._ Though Edelgard as the man holstered his rifle onto his back and brandished a stun baton from his belt. She clutched the rock in her hands as he neared, readying to use it. _Here goes nothing._ In a flash, she cocked her arm back and immediately shot it forward, loosing the rock toward her target.

_CRACK!!_

Her aim was true as the rock hit the man’s face dead centre, assuredly breaking his noise as the sick crack resounded across the surrounding area. Immediately after the rock hit, the man dropped his baton and brought his hands to clutch at his broken nose, attempting to stem the gush of blood that streamed from it. “Ahhhh!” He screamed in agony. “Little bitch broke my fucking nose!” He brought his gaze to bare on her, his eyes full of seething rage. “Get her!” He yelled to the soldiers behind him. Without a moment’s hesitation, Edelgard turned and broke out into a sprint, hopefully being a significant enough diversion for the soldiers. They gave chase immediately, all of them, bar the injured one, abandoning their post to catch her. _Hopefully it will be enough of a chance for the others to escape._ She thought as she sprinted hard, pushing her body as far as she could. This was one moment where she was grateful for the daily training they were put through, as even fully trained soldiers struggled to keep up with her sheer speed. She turned a corner onto a new stretch of road, finding herself just before the vehicle depot, where the various cars and jeeps on the base were kept when not in use. She decided, in an instant, that it would be a good enough hiding spot for her. If she could only keep herself concealed for a few minutes before being found, it would give her friends enough time to escape.

She made a break for the door to the depot, glancing behind her to see that the soldiers were still on her tail. As soon as she reached the entrance of the depot, she punched the activation button for the hydraulic door, the metal sliding open and allowing her entrance to the inside. The interior of the depot was essentially a large warehouse, housing several rows of various service vehicles, even a few tanks. Edelgard ran towards one of the jeeps in the middle of a row

and slid under it, the vehicle serving to conceal her. Mere moments after she hunkered down in her hiding spot, the four soldiers burst into the depot, scanning the building for any sign of her.

“Spread out and find the little cunt. She’s in here somewhere.” A voice called out from behind the soldiers. It was the man she had hit with the rock, his voice nasally and pained as he held his broken nose between his finger and thumb. On his orders, they fanned out and began scouring under each and every vehicle in the building. The soldiers shined their flashlights under each vehicle, going one by one, searching for her.

A pair of boot-clad feet came closer to where Edelgard was hidden, the man stopping before each jeep, dropping to the floor and shining his flashlight under it to see where she was hidden. He was only three spaces away from her, edging ever closer. If she stayed where she was, she would surely be found. While she knew that she would be found eventually, she wanted to drag out the hunt as long as she could so that Khalid, Dimitri, Lysithea and Marianne would have more time to escape, with the soldier’s focus was on finding her. The man was searching the jeep next to her now, the shine of his light reflecting off the chassis as he scanned the underside. She would have to make her move as soon as the opportunity presented itself. If her timing was off, even by a second, she would be found and most likely punished by the guards before being brought to Doctor Halsey. The man lowered his flashlight and made to stand back up. As soon as he did, Edelgard rolled from under the jeep straight to the one that he had just checked under. She watched as he dropped to check the space where she had been previously, none the wiser to her tricking him. Once she was sure that he was moving on to the next spot, she began to crawl under each of the jeeps back towards the entrance to the depot.

Once she made it to the last jeep, she rose from the ground and made for the door, fortunately still open, and ran through. The very moment she stepped back outside, a deafening cry pierced the air. It was the base’s sirens, wailing its alarm signal across the entire complex. A beat passed before the loudspeaker system crackled to life, a woman’s stern voice echoing forth. “Attention. Five test subjects have escaped. All hands mount up and form search parties. Non-lethal weapons only. These subjects are of paramount importance to the UNSC.” As if to punctuate the call to action, two dropships soared over the base, moving toward the land outside the walls. They were truly being hunted now. _Please let them get far enough away. Don’t let this be for- ugh!_ Her thoughts were interrupted as she turned a corner, suddenly colliding with a solid mass, finding herself falling backward onto the ground. Edelgard, looked up at whatever she had collided with, fully expecting it to be one of her hunters. What actually graced her vision was her greatest surprise of the night.

It was another child. A girl. She looked to be a few years older than Edelgard, standing nearly a head taller than she would, were she standing of course. She wore a black, long-sleeved compression top and joggers, the latter seeming quite old and well-used, holes of various shapes and sizes pocking the baggy fabric. Her hair was a brilliant shade of dark blue, its length falling just past her shoulder, unkempt and unstyled. What really caught Edelgard’s attention, however, were the girl’s eyes. They were absolutely gorgeous, wide and beautiful, captivating the younger girl. They were quite possibly the most striking shade of sapphire blue she had ever seen, shining vibrantly in the moonlight.

The blue haired girl stared down at Edelgard, her face stoic and expressionless, as though she didn’t even know how to react to the younger girl who had just collided with her. A moment passed. The girl then moved, extending her arm and offering her hand to Edelgard. The downed girl hesitated for a moment, not entirely sure why this stranger would be helping her but thought it best not to question such a stroke of good luck. Edelgard gently took hold of the proffered hand, and felt herself being hoisted up, back onto her feet.

“Are you ok?” The new girl asked plainly, nary a hint of emotion in her voice.

Edelgard opened her mouth to reply but was suddenly interrupted by a voice around the corner of the building. “Hey, did you hear that?” A woman’s voice asked to someone else. “I think there’s someone there.” Two shadows stretched into view from around the corner, getting closer and closer. They were nearly upon them, until suddenly, Edelgard felt a harsh pull on her wrist. She turned to see that the strange girl had grasped her forearm in an iron grip and was now pulling her away from the approaching soldiers.

“Follow me.” The blue haired girl spoke curtly. For reasons she couldn’t fathom, Edelgard did not resist the girl’s pull, allowing herself to be dragged to wherever the stranger deigned to take her. Maybe the other girl would bring her in, take her to Halsey herself. Or maybe she would show her to another way out of the base, an exit that no one knew about. She ruminated on every possibility she could think of while she was led away.

The two girls came to a medium-sized supply shed that seemed to be tucked away in this section of the base, obscured from view and scarcely used. The older of the duo pressed the button at the side of the door, sliding it open, then began to lead them both inside. The shed’s automatic lighting came to life when they stepped inside, revealing that interior had been converted into what seemed to be a small gym, racks of weights and exercise scattered throughout.

The new girl let go of Edelgard’s wrist and walked into the centre of the room, then turning to face Edelgard. “Why were the soldiers after you?” She asked, blunt and to-the-point.

Even though the girl had helped her, Edelgard was still cautious around her. She didn’t know this girl nor what her motivations for assisting her would be. “Why do you want to know?” She asked back, guarded and tense.

“I was just curious.” The other girl explained. “I heard the alarm and wanted to find out what was happening.” She spoke very matter-of-factly, no emotion seeping into her voice. She reminded Edelgard of a doll, somewhat. Almost lifeless in how she acted. But she seemed harmless enough, and she did help her get away from the soldiers. So, she decided that she would give this strange girl the benefit of the doubt when it came to her exact reasons for helping. “What happened to your hair?” The girl asked suddenly, catching Edelgard off guard with the, in her opinion, irrelevant question.

Edelgard’s hand reflexively went up to her head, ghosting slightly over her shorn hair. She still missed her longer hair. “The people here cut it off. Why do you ask?” She questioned the girl, still somewhat suspicious.

The blue haired girl tilted her head slightly to the left, akin to a puppy, as though she were inspecting Edelgard’s hair. “I don’t like it.” She stated.

Edelgard scoffed at that, offended. She didn’t like her hair either, but there was no reason for others to say it out loud! _Does this girl have any social tact whatsoever?_ She thought, incredulous. “That’s rather rude don’t you think?” She exclaimed indignantly. “Besides, you’re one to talk. Look at your hair. It’s a mess!” While she found the colour of the other girl’s hair to be quite beautiful, the hair itself wasn’t something to be proud of. The cut was choppy, as though it were done with a knife. The length uneven in places. Not to mention the various split ends plaguing the hair throughout said length.

The bluenette lowered her head, looking somewhat upset, the most emotive she had been so far. “Sorry.” She said simply.

That made Edelgard feel guilty. The older girl was only curious, and clearly had no social skills to speak of. So what if she made a comment about her hair? There were more important things to worry about at the moment. Edelgard sighed. “No. I’m the one who should apologise. That was mean of me.” She said earnestly. “I’m sorry for saying that.”

The girl’s lips turned up into a ghost of a smile, hardly even there but still quite clear to someone who looked closely. “That’s ok.” She said, forgiving Edelgard without hesitation. “I’m sorry for saying I didn’t like your hair. Mama always says I need to get better at talking to people.”

Edelgard looked around the room, her eyes scanning over the various sets of weights and equipment. “How did you know about this place?” She asked to the blue haired girl. “I never even knew there was a gym here.”

“Papa set it up for me to train.” She explained.

“Do you live on the base?” Edelgard asked. She had never seen this girl before today, which shouldn’t really have been possible considering the base was no bigger than a small village.

She nodded at Edelgard’s question. “My parents work here.” Her responses were laconic, saying no more than needed to be said to get the message across.

Edelgard was curious now. The child of two people who both worked on the base. And she hadn’t seen her before? Either that was a huge coincidence, or the girl had been kept from seeing her and the other Spartans. “Have your parents been working here long?”

“For the past six months.” Ever since her and the other Spartans had first been kidnapped? Now that was downright inconceivable.

“How come this is the first time I’ve ever seen you?”

“I’m not allowed on the grounds during the day.” The girl began. “And I’m only allowed to train after 9 PM. Papa says its because of some secret project they have here.”

Edelgard scoffed at that. _A project? Is that all we are to these people?_ She thought. “That would be us.” She stated, much to the girl’s confusion. Before the girl could ask what she meant by that, Edelgard spoke once more. “Just who are your parents anyway?”

The other girl opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the crackling of static from outside, the base’s tannoy system blaring to life. “Attention. Subjects 014 and 150 have been subdued and detained. Transports are RTB. Subjects 088, 020 and 071 are still unaccounted for. All remaining teams, continue search operations.” The loudspeakers died down with an electrical whine.

“No!” Cried Edelgard. “This should have worked!” They had caught somehow caught Lysithea and Dimitri. Now only herself, Khalid and Marianne had yet to be found. She hoped that it would be enough.

The blue haired girl tapped Edelgard on the shoulder. “You were trying to escape?” Edelgard noticed that her gaze was upon her tank top, looking at the number on her chest, ‘020’. “Why?” She asked innocently.

Edelgard breathed in shakingly, the beginning of tears wetting her eyes. “We just wanted to go home.” She said in defeat. “We just wanted to go home.” She repeated.

“You don’t live here? Like me?” The girl asked. She thought that Edelgard was only her due to circumstances similar to her own.

“No.” Edelgard sniffled. “We were kidnapped. Taken from our homes and forced to stay here. Forced to train every day. Forced to learn about fighting and war. I just want to go back to my family. Back to my friends.” She finished with a whisper. Silence permeated the air, the other girl not knowing, really, how to react to such a revelation.

A few moments passed before the other girl moved toward Edelgard, putting her hand gently on her shoulder, just as she had seen her mother do to other people in need of comfort before. “What’s your name?” She asked. Such a simple question? After what she had just revealed? Edelgard would have been angry if she wasn’t currently so focused on her sorrow.

“Edelgard.” She quietly replied. “My name is Edelgard.”

The other girl rewarded her with a slight upturn of her lips. “I like that name.” She spoke simply.

“Thank you. What’s yours?” She asked.

“Byleth?” A deep, bassy voice called from the entrance to the supply shed. Both girls turned to see that it was Major Eisner, his wide frame completely filling up the space in between the door frame. He caught sight of Edelgard as he walked further into the room, his face showing a slight hint of sadness and regret. Such rare emotions for the normally stoic man to bare.

“Papa?” The girl, Byleth, questioned. “What’s the matter?”

_She’s the daughter of the Major? And Doctor Eisner?_ Edelgard was dumbfounded at this new information. She couldn’t believe that the girl she had been speaking to was actually the child of her superior officer and one of her teachers.

Jeralt looked away from Edelgard to his own daughter. “Kid. You should go back to your room.” He said softly.

Byleth looked between Edelgard and Jeralt, making her decision. “No.” Byleth said, shocking both of them. She had never disobeyed her father before, always finding no problem with doing whatever he told her to do. To Edelgard, it was incomprehensible for someone to say no the Major. Everyone on the base followed what he said without question, even Mendez.

Jeralt sighed, holding the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger. “Very well.” He relented. He and Sitri had always made it a point to never lie to their daughter. If she wanted to know about something, they would teach her as much as they could. It was only through sheer dumb luck that she hadn’t asked about their move to Reach or about the goings on of the base, always preferring to go with the flow of things, rather passive in how she lived her life.

Jeralt knelt down so that he was eye level with Edelgard. “Listen, kid… Edelgard. I know you want to go home. I know you want to see your parents again. Goddess knows I wish I could take you to them myself, but there are forces beyond our control at work here. People who could make us disappear.” He felt as though he was being a tad melodramatic, but it was true. ONI could erase all traces of someone’s existence, as though they had never even lived in the first place. “If you were to somehow get off this planet and get back home. There would be nothing stopping Halsey and the others from getting you back, maybe even hurting your family to bring you back. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

“I-I just-“ Began Edelgard, tears streaming slowly down her face. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to live without my family. My father. My siblings. My friends.” She cried even harder, expressing her fears to Jeralt and Byleth.

“I know. Trust me, I know.” He could only imagine how truly hard this was for the child. To be stripped of all that she was, to be formed into a weapon, made to quell rebellion. It wasn’t right, wasn’t just. But there was nothing they could do to stop it.

“I’ll go back. Please just don’t let them hurt anyone.” Edelgard spoke quietly, her voice broken and tinged with defeat.

“Ok, kid. Let’s go.” Jeralt said softly. Rising to his feet and putting his arm out to his side, signalling for her to walk in front of him.

Byleth came to her side as she walked toward the door leading outside. “I’ll be your friend.” The girl stated, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “You can sneak out to this building whenever you like.” She whispered.

Edelgard gave her a sad smile, her face still streaked with tears. “Thank you.” She whispered back.

As they walked out into the cold night-time air, the tannoy blared across the base once more. “Attention. Subjects 088 and 071 have been subdued and detained. Transports are RTB. Subject 020 is still unaccounted for. All remaining teams, continue search operations.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah Byleth, you lovable weirdo. 
> 
> So ends the build up for the main cast. As you can see in this chapter, there was a mini time skip. There'll be a few more of those coming in future chapters, just to get to the main story a lot quicker. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback or criticism you have will be greatly appreciated, please tell me what you like or what I can do better. So that I know what can be done to make this fic as good as I can make it going forward.


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